Completed his BA degree in Public Relations and Advertising at Istanbul University. During his undergraduate education, he was a guest student at the Technical Journalism Department of the Fachhochschule Bonn Rhein-Sieg in Germany. The title of his MA thesis is Neo-Realism and Realism in Turkish Cinema. He holds another MA degree in Cinematography, from the University of West London/MET Film School. Yilmaz worked as a research assistant at Istanbul Commerce University, Department of Visual Communication Design. He took place as a producer, cinematographer, and camera crew in various short films and documentaries in London and Istanbul. He worked in the Live Broadcasts service at Anadolu Agency Istanbul Office and took part in mini documentary projects. Yılmaz completed his doctoral studies in the field of cinema at Istanbul University under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Şükrü Sim with his thesis titled "Cinematography in Semih Kaplanoğlu Cinema". Dr. Yilmaz continues to work on recent Turkish cinema and cinematography. 

Yılmaz is a faculty member at Ibn Haldun University, Department of New Media and Communication, Vice Dean at the Faculty of Communication and Assistant Director at the School of Graduate Studies.