Born in 1953 in Niksar, Hüsrev Subaşı completed his education in Istanbul and graduated from Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute and Istanbul University Faculty of Literature. He completed his doctorate in Turkish and Islamic Arts at Marmara University in 1984 and became associate professor in 1990 and professor in 1997. Subaşı, who was a student of the late Hamid Aytaç in the art of calligraphy, conducted research on Turkish calligraphy in Egypt in 1987-1988. He prepared the Islamic Calligraphy course curriculum for the Ministry of National Education and contributed to educational activities in this field.

Subaşı, who taught at Marmara University for many years, has supervised nearly 70 master's and doctoral theses, presented papers at national and international congresses, and published many books and articles. He has organised exhibitions at home and abroad with his wife Naciye Subaşı, who is and illumination artist, and his works have been included in more than 80 group exhibitions. He has calligraphy works in nearly 20 mosques throughout Istanbul and Türkiye. He was a consultant in the restoration of historical calligraphy in Süleymaniye, Fatih and Şemsi Ahmed Paşa Mosques.

He worked as the dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University and is still a faculty member at the same faculty. Subaşı is a member of the Advisory Board of the Ministry of Culture Manuscripts Institution and the Classical Turkish Arts Foundation.