Apt was a one of 196 students at the Sopron University Forestry Program in Hungary who fled the country with their instructors during the bloody uprising in 1956. He settled in Vancouver in 1957 and apprenticed with sculptors Andy Zborowsky and Elek Imredy in 1959-60. He later created a plaque for UBC to commemorate the Hungarian students. He organized the Rochdale College Sculpture Shop at the free school in 1969, encouraging those interested to come and learn sculpture techniques, promising they could be "making a living by spring."