Born in Bucharest, on April 5, 1950. He studied directing at the Bucharest Institute of Theater and Cinematic Art, in 1974. After graduating, he was, in turn, a director for the theaters in Piatra Neamț, Constanța, Bucharest, Craiova and Sibiu, a teacher in within the Academy of Theater and Film in Bucharest and manager of the "Bulandra" Theater in Bucharest. Throughout his career he has worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Nottingham Playhouse (England), Burgtheater (Austria), Det Norske Teatret (Norway), São João National Theater (Portugal), Bergen National Theater (Norway), Katona Theater József" in Budapest, the Budapest National Theater and the "Csokonai 10" Theater in Debrecen (Hungary), La Comédie de Saint-Etienne (France), the "Vakhtangov" Theater in Moscow and the Baltic House Theater Company in Saint Petersburg (Russia), the Metropolitan Theater Tokyo (Japan), as well as for the Operas of Bonn, Glasgow, Cardiff, Vienna, Nancy, Essen. In 1996 he became the director of the Center Dramatique National in Limoges where he staged "The Oresteia", "Three Sisters" and "Dom Juan". Since 2003, Silviu Purcărete is a personal member of the Union of Theaters in Europe.

His reputation is linked to the international successes of the National Craiovean all around the world. The shows directed in Craiova received numerous awards and were praised by critics, both in the country and abroad, becoming famous for their visual component and the supple treatment of dramatic texts. At the end of the 80s, Silviu Purcărete became a collaborator and then a member of the National Theater in Craiova, where he staged shows of undoubted artistic sophistication: "Dwarf from the summer garden" (1989) "Ubu Rex with scenes from Macbeth" (1990) , "Titus Andronicus" (1992), "Phaedra" (1993), "The Danaids" (1995), "The Oresteia" (1998), "Twelfth Night" (2005), "Measure for Measure" (2008), "O storm" (2012). Most of his performances have been presented at numerous theater festivals around the world – Edinburgh, Avignon, Tokyo, Melbourne, Bath, Glasgow, Montreal, Vienna, Varna, Gdansk, Tel Aviv, Sarajevo, etc.

The shows staged in Craiova have been presented on tours in Great Britain: "The Decameron", "Phaedra" and "The Danaids" (Glasgow), "The Orestia" (Barbican Center London), "Ubu Rex with scenes from Macbeth" (Edinburgh International Festival, "A Tempest" (Nottingham Playhouse), "Titus Andronicus" (Japan), but also in the USA ("Danaides"), Brazil, South Korea, Holland, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Poland ("Danaides").

Premii și distincții (selectiv): Premiul criticii și Premiul pentru excelență artistică al Fundației Hamada (Festivalul internațional de la Edinburgh, 1991), Premiul pentru cel mai bun spectacol străin la Festivalul Americilor de la Montreal (1993), Golden Globe Peter Brook Prize pentru cea mai bună regie teatrală, 1995), Premiul criticii la Festivalul de teatru de la Dublin (1996), Premiul special al juriului la Festivalul Internațional Shakespeare, Gdansk (2006), Premiul Cununa de Aur la Festivalul MESS Sarajevo (2006), Premiul Herald Angel acordat de Bank of Scotland (2012), Premiul Europa pentru Teatru – Premiul special, Craiova 2016. A primit numeroase premii UNITER pentru spectacole și regie. Premiul UNITER pentru Cea mai bună regie (1993, 2005, 2023); Premiul UNITER pentru Excelență (1997 și 2010 –împreună cu Helmut Stürmer, Lia Manțoc, Vasile Şirli și Andu Dumitrescu, din echipa spectacolului „Faust”); Premiul UNITER pentru Cel mai bun spectacol (2014, 2022), Premiul UNITER pentru întreaga activitate (2017). În 2012 a regizat filmul „Undeva la Palilula”, distins cu șapte premii la Gala Gopo și deținător al Premiului pentru cel mai bun lungmetraj de debut în cadrul Festivalul Filmului Sud-Est European (Los Angeles, 2013).Ordinul Steaua României în grad de Comandor (2000). Doctor Honoris Causa al Universității din București (2019) și al Universității Lucian Blaga din Sibiu (2022).