Öykü Karayel was born in 1990 in Istanbul. She attended the Kenter Theater Academy briefly before studying at the University of Istanbul Conservatory’s Theater Department in 2007. She played the lead role of Ayşe in the theater Güzel \eyler Bizim Tarafta when she was still a conservatory student. Screenwriter Ece Yörenç got notice of her after she appeared in a play at Theatre Krek. She was selected to play Cemre in the TV show Kuzey Güney, which was looking for a new actor at the time.