An object is to provide an imaging optical system having a very simple structure that can read image while maintaining excellent image quality without suffering from significant asymmetrical aberrations. An imaging optical system for image reading is adapted to form an image of image information on a surface of an original onto a line sensor while changing a relative position of the original surface and the line sensor to allow the line sensor to read the image information. The imaging optical system includes two off-axial reflecting surfaces, and the two off-axial surfaces are a plus deflecting surface and a minus deflecting surface, or a minus deflecting surface and a plus deflecting surface disposed in the mentioned order from the original surface side, where an off-axial reflecting surface that deflects a reference axis beam clockwise is defined as a minus deflecting surfaces and an off axial reflecting surface that deflects the reference axis beam anticlockwise is defined as a plus deflecting surface.