An optical-pickup apparatus includes: a first laser light source including a first laser diode to emit a laser beam having a first wavelength, and a back-monitor photodetector to receive the laser beam emitted in a backward direction, not being an optical-disc direction, and output a first monitor signal; a second laser-light source including a second laser diode to emit a laser beam having a second wavelength; a light-receiving circuit including a front-monitor photodetector to receive the laser beam emitted in a forward direction, being the optical-disc direction, and output a second monitor signal, and a switch circuit to be inputted with the first and second monitor signals, and output the first or second monitor signal according to a switch signal; and first and second drive circuits to drive the first and second laser diodes according to the first and second monitor signals outputted from the light-receiving circuit, respectively.