Embodiments of an air-cooled gas laser with heat transfer resonator optics are disclosed herein. A laser configured in accordance with one embodiment includes resonator optics having an optical element, a first heat sink element in surface-to-surface contact with a first side surface of the optical element, a second heat sink element in surface-to-surface contact with a second side surface of the optical element, and a carrier member carrying the optical element and the first heat sink element, and including a forward facing surface in surface-to-surface contact with the backside surface of the optical element. The resonator optics further include first and second biasing elements biasedly coupled to the carrier member and configured to bias the first and second heat sink elements against the first side and second side surfaces, respectively, of the optical element.