After graduating from the Mechanical and Technical Faculties of the Gdańsk and Warsaw Universities of Technology (1953-58), he studied musicology at the University of Warsaw, which he completed in 1964.
He was a self-taught composer. Between 1954 and 1962, he worked in student theatres in Gdańsk (Bim-Bom) and Warsaw (STS). His first theatrical music compositions come from this period. From 1964 to 1966, he was the music manager of the Komedia Theatre in Warsaw. Between 1969 and 1975, he lectured at the Faculty of Drama Directing at the State Higher School of Theatre in Warsaw.
Edward Pałłasz was a laureate of many competitions. He received the Prix de Musique Folklorique of Radio Bratislava (1973) for Łado, Łado for lute or guitar and 24 voices (1973) and six times the first prize: in 1974 at the Polish Radio Competition for Pod Borem Czarna Chmura (Black Cloud Near the Forest, trans. MG) for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra, in 1976 at the Grzegorz Fitelberg Composition Competition in Katowice for his Symphony 1976, in 1984 at the Guido d’Arezzo Composers’ Competition in Arezzo for De Beata Virgine Maria Claromontana per coro misto, in 1988 at the Karol Szymanowski Composition Competition for Trzy Pieśni Kaszubskie for mixed choir (Three Kashubian Songs, trans. MG), in 1990 at the Trento Competition for Brandelli di cielo for women’s choir (1988) and in 1991, at the Jan Maklakiewicz Composition Competition for Dziewczyna O Perłowych Włosach (Girl with Pearl Hair, trans. MG) for orchestra.
Moreover, in 1979 he received the Prime Minister’s Award for his work for children, in 1986 – Polish Radio and Television President’s Award for his compositional work for radio, in 1989 – Frist Degree Award of the Minister of Culture and Art and in 2005 – the Grand Honorary Splendor of the Polish Radio.