Busolt was born in Buchholz, East Prussia (Bukowiec, Poland), the son of the local pastor Gotthilf Friedrich Busolt and Susanna née Kerstein.[1][2]
He started to study at the University of Königsberg (Kaliningrad) in 1788, where he attended lectures of Christian Jakob Kraus and Immanuel Kant. Busolt's transcript of Kant's lectures are known as the "Busolt logic". Busolt passed his doctorate exam in 1798.[1]
He became a teacher at the Altstadt Gymnasium and a charity school (Tiepoltsche Armenschule) in Königsberg. He was largely influenced by the pedagogic ideas of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Busolt left Königsberg in 1798 to travel through Germany and visit several schools and learn about their different pedagogic concepts. In 1800 he returned to Königsberg and became a member of the church and school commissions.[2]
Busolt became a member of Königsberg's city parliament in 1809 and member of the school reform commission headed by Wilhelm von Humboldt. Busolt gave lectures about modern pedagogy, which were attended by the Prussian King and Queen and Humboldt.[1] Throughout the period of Prussian reforms August Neidhardt von Gneisenau lived for several month at Busolt's home.[2]