Otorbaev was born on August 18, 1955 in Frunze to a family of scientists. His father, Professor Kaip Otorbaev, was a former rector at Kyrgyz National University, while his mother, Professor Maria Nanaeva, worked as a head of department at the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy. In 1978 he graduated with honours from Leningrad State University with a degree in physics, and received his PhD in 1981 at the Lebedev Physical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1989 he received the degree of Doctor of Sciences at the Institute of General Physics USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1990 he received the degree of Professor of Physics from the High Attestation Commission of the USSR. From 1981 to 2005 he worked as a junior, senior researcher, then head of the laboratory of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan. From 1985 to 1996 - teacher, senior lecturer, professor of the Kyrgyz State University. From 1996 to 2005 - he became a professor at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University. Between 1992 and 1996 he was working as an invited Professor at the Department of Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology.
Career
From 1996 to 2002, he has been working as Chief Executive Officer of Philips Electronics in Kyrgyzstan. From 1999 to 2002, he was Vice President of Philips Electronics in Central Asia. From 2001 to 2004 he was appointed as an Adviser to the President - the Special Representative of the President of Kyrgyzstan on attracting investments. From 2001 to 2005, he was the Special Representative of the President of Kyrgyzstan for Economic Assistance to Afghanistan. From 2002 to 2005 - Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan for Economics and Investments. From 2005 to 2006, he was the Executive Director of the well-known economic think tank "Investment Round Table". From April 2006 to December 2011 he became the Senior Advisor to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. From December 2011 to September 2012 - Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan for Economics and Investments. Since September 6, 2012 - First Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan. During these years, he was the Governor from Kyrgyzstan in the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. A high-level donor conference held in July 2013 decided to allocate $ 2 billion in support to Kyrgyzstan in the next 3 years. On March 26, 2014, Djoomart Otorbaev was appointed as acting prime minister of Kyrgyzstan after the parliamentary coalition broke up and former prime minister Zhantoro Satybaldiev resigned on March 25. On April 3, the Kyrgyz parliament approved a new composition of the government. 103 deputies out of 120 voted “in favor” of the majority coalition in the factions of the Social Democratic Party, “Ar-Namys” and “Ata-Meken”. In his keynote speech, Otorbaev assured the deputies that the main goal of the Government of Kyrgyzstan would be the return of trust in government from the society and the people. His priority was to improve the investment climate in the country and the fight against corruption, saying that all government agencies should work in unity: “My work will have simple priorities - specific goals will be set for ministers, those who cannot fulfill them will be fired." On April 4, President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev signed a decree appointing a new government under the leadership of Prime Minister Otorbaev. On April 23, 2015, following an annual report in the Parliament on work as prime minister, and the recognition of his work as satisfactory, he resigned on political reasons.