Tan Sri Othman bin Hashim joined the Administrative and Diplomatic Service in 1979 and retired as Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, the most senior office for a career diplomat.

He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from the University of Malaya.

In a career spanning more than 37 years, Tan Sri Othman Hashim served in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diplomatic Missions abroad including as Deputy Secretary General for Management Services and Bilateral Relations. His postings overseas included Romania, Switzerland and People’s Republic of China. He served as Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland and Ambassador to the USA.

As an officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tan Sri Othman Hashim was extensively involved in the formulation and implementation of Government’s policies. He has served in various capacities in safeguarding and advancing the country’s principal interests across the globe.

As Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organizations in Geneva, he was accredited to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

He was a member of the delegation for Malaysia’s First Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Human Rights to the UNHRC in 2009. He was also involved in the preparation of the report for the subsequent Malaysia’s UPR on Human Rights. The UPR serves to assess the human rights situations in all UN member states. He headed the Malaysian delegations to the regular sessions of the UNHRC in 2009-2012. In 2015, he successfully led the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during Malaysia’s chairmanship of ASEAN and Malaysia’s non-permanent membership of the United National Security Council from 2015 to 2016.