His father, Nuh, was a Venetian convert to Islam who worked in Constantinople as a doctor, and his mother Safiye was a Turk. His epithet Hekimoğlu means "son of a physician" in Turkish.
During his first term, he tried to reform the army by establishing a new artillery corps named Humbaracı. For this task he employed a French convert named Claude Alexandre de Bonneval. He was suspicious of the embattled Russia and tried to end the war against Persia to free up resources, but his peace policy was met with criticism, and, during a council of war held in the palace, Sultan Mahmud I dismissed him.
After the first term
After his first term, Ali Pasha continued as a provincial governor. He was appointed to Crete, Bosnia, Egypt, and parts of Anatolia. In Bosnia, he defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Banja Luka during the Austro-Russian–Turkish War and supported the Grand Vizierİvaz Mehmet Pasha in the siege of Belgrade. In Egypt, he suppressed the uprising of the Mamluks, and his governorship was reported to be largely peaceful and free of insurrections.
Second term as grand vizier
During his second term, the most important problem was the new war against Persia, still led by Nadir Shah of the Afsharid dynasty. However, the Sultan refused Ali Pasha's campaign plan and dismissed him, accusing him of not taking appropriate measures in the Eastern front.
After the second term
After his second term, he was appointed as provincial governor to Lesbos, Crete, Bosnia, Trikala, Ochakiv, Vidin, and Trabzon in rapid succession. In Trabzon, he was able to end the chaos created by the local leaders.
Third term as grand vizier
His third term was very short. The new sultan Osman III was under the influence of the palace courtesans. When Ali Pasha refused to obey the sultan's order to execute a young prince, the sultan jailed him. He barely escaped being executed by the intercession of the valide sultanŞehsuvar.
After the third term
After being jailed in Kızkulesi in the Bosphorus, he was first exiled to Mağusa, Cyprus, and then to the island of Rhodes. He was given a pardon in 1756 and appointed as the Ottoman provincial governor to Egypt for the second time. Once again, his governorship was reported to be peaceful. On 17 October 1757, for the fourth time, he was appointed the governor of Anatolia. On 13 August 1758, at the age of about 71, he died in Kütahya of a urinary tract infection. He is buried in a small monumental tomb near the Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa Mosque at the religious buildings complex that he endowed to be built in the Davutpaşa neighborhood of Istanbul.
