Balkrishan Singh Grewal was born on 10 March 1933 in Patiala, Punjab, India.
His father, Brig. Daleep Singh, had represented India in athletics at Paris 1924 Olympic Games.
A graduate of Punjab University, Balkrishen spent his initial playing days with Indian Railways as a full-back. He captained the Indian Railways team.
He represented Punjab University in hockey for four years in a row from 1950-54. His first international cap was at Warsaw in 1954, and since then he was in the national focus.
He represented India at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games where India won the Gold Medal.
He represented India in the Tokyo 1958 Asian Games where India won the Silver Medal.
He won two national hockey championships with Railways in 1963 and 1964.
After retiring from active hockey, Balkrishen quit Railways and joined the panel of coaches at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, where Dhyan Chand was the chief coach. He later became the senior coach there.
His first major coaching assignment was with the Australian women's hockey team in 1965.
He returned to India and coached the Indian team and was the coach of the Mexico 1968 Olympic team where India won the Bronze medal.
He was the coach of the Combined Universities hockey team in 1969.
He was India's coach at the 2nd World Cup in Amsterdam in 1973 and the 1974 Teheran Asian Games.
He coached the Indian men's team that won the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and the Indian women's team that won the gold in the 1982 Delhi Asian Games.
He was the coach of the Indian team at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.
He was the coach of the Indian team in the 1991 Auckland Olympic Qualifier.
He was the coach of the Indian team at Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.
He is the only person to have coached India in 4 different Olympics - Mexico 1968; Moscow 1980; Los Angeles 1984 and Barcelona 1992.
He is one of only two Indians (both Sikhs) to have won the Olympic gold medal both as a player and as a coach. He was in India's Gold medal winning team as a player at Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games and was the Coach at India's Gold medal team at Moscow 1980 Olympic Games.
He retired as the Director of the National Institute of Sports in Patiala in 1992.
He died on Friday, December 31 2004, in Patiala aged 72.