Olly Murs has sent a letter of apology to Taylor Swift.

He told Daily Mail Australia: "I reached out to Taylor around two days ago. I gave her a letter and said, 'I'm really sorry... It came out wrong. I'm sorry I didn't mean to make any offence.'

"It always came out that every article says Taylor writes songs and they always link it to Harry so I was just making a joke and defending my mate."

Olly's comments have been branded "sexist" as male songwriters don't face similar backlashes for writing about former lovers, but the British star insists it wasn't a fair accusation to make.

He added: "But there's one thing - I'm not and I've never been sexist, I don't think that's right.

"It wasn't nice what I said, but it was a joke. I didn't expect it to blow up like it did."

Speaking last week, Olly hit out at Taylor, who never confirms who her songs are about, shortly after her latest song 'Out of the Woods' - which is said to be about Harry, who she dated for three months until they split in January 2013 - was released.

He said: "Come on [Taylor], let it go. Write something new that isn't about Harry.

"Bless him, it's been like two years and he's still getting lashed out isn't he?"