Ján Oravec

• 2020 – 2023: a member of the Slovak parliament, elected as an independent candidate on a party list of a Freedom and Solidarity Party, from October 2022 to October 2023 a member of its European Affairs Committee,
• 2020 – 2022: State Secretary, Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, responsible for business environment, SME policy, innovations, and bilateral economic relations,
• 2003 – 2020: president, The Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia, the first organisation of private businesses in a modern history of Slovakia, after 1989,
• 2004 – 2020: a member of a Presidium of The National Union of Employers, the most representative organisation of employers in Slovakia,
• 2004 – 2014: a member of the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels representing Slovak employers,
• 1999–2002: a Chief of Strategy at the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic.
• 1992–2013: a founding father of The F. A. Hayek Foundation Bratislava (established in 1991), and The Slovak Taxpayers Association (1997), one of the most successful (in terms of their impact on economic policy) and the most respected NGOs in a Central and Eastern Europe.

Jan Oravec graduated in 1987 from Commenius University in Bratislava (Philosophy – Political Economy), The Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia in 1994 (Business Administration) and Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, US, in 1993–1995 (Bank Management). In 1996 he received his PhD degree in economics at theInstitute of Slovak and World Economy in Bratislava.

He started his professional career at the Institute of Economics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in 1987. In the beginning of 90s he was active in financial sector (financial manager in investment fund, director of the Investment Banking Dept. in Devin Bank, internships in Banc One, Dallas, Texas, US, and Westpac Bank, Sydney, Australia).

In 1999–2002 Oravec was working as a chief of strategy at the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic. During that period he served as a chairman and member of various supervisory boards (SSE, a.s., – one three regional electricity distribution companies, The Slovak Guarantee and Development Bank, Transpetrol, a.s., Slovak Consolidation Agency, Slovak Post-Privatisation Fund), a chairman of a board of directors (National Agency for SMEs) and a vice-chairman of the Government Council for Science and Technology.

From 2003 to 2020 he was a president of The Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia, the first organisation of private entrepreneurs in Slovakia after a collapse of communism. From 2004 to 2020 he was a member of a Presidium of The National Union of Employers, the most representative organisation of employers in Slovakia. From 2004 to 2014 he represented Slovak employers in the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.

From 2004 to 2007 he was a member of a scientific board of a Faculty of Economics and Public Administration, The University of Economics in Prague, and a member of an industrial board of The Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. From 2004 to 2011, he was a member of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Economics in Prague. Currently he serves as a member of a Supervisory Board of Anglo-American University in Prague.

He is a founding father of The F. A. Hayek Foundation Bratislava (established in 1991), and The Slovak Taxpayers Association (1997), since 2004 he is also a member of an academic board of a Liberal Institute in Prague.

From 2020 to 2023 he hold various positions both as a Slovak law-maker as well as a policy-maker.

He has his own business in consulting, focusing on regulatory impact assessments, sectoral analysis, macroeconomic analysis, economic outlooks, etc. He writes articles, gives lectures, TV interviews, and public speeches on various topics. He lives in Bratislava. He is married and has two children.

Reference from Latvia journal
Jan Oravec about entrepreneurs in Slovakia
Interview with Jan Oravec