Holgorsen, 47, leaves West Virginia where he spent the last eight years to become the 15th head coach in UH history.
In eight years with Holgorsen at the helm, West Virginia went to a bowl game in seven of them, but only reached double digit wins twice.
Prior to becoming the head coach at West Virginia, Holgorsen spent a year at Oklahoma State as the offensive coordinator, and spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons as the offensive coordinator at Houston under then head coach Kevin Sumlin.
UH replaces Major Applewhite after two years, in which he was 15-11.