Ashok Lavasa is a retired officer of the 1980 batch of the Indian Administrative Service belonging to the Haryana cadre.

In a career spanning 45 years he held the constitutional position of Election Commissioner of India, served as Vice President, Asian Development Bank, Union Finance Secretary, Secretary, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and Civil Aviation, among others. He led the Indian delegation in COP21 in negotiating the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. 

Before joining the government, he worked as Probationary Officer in State Bank of India, and as a lecturer in Delhi University.

He is a MPhil (Defense-Strategic Studies), Madras University, MBA, Southern Cross University, Australia, M.A. and B.A. (Hons.) English, Delhi University.

He is a prolific writer having authored three books, several essays included in edited books, and articles for magazines and newspapers. His books are Echoes of Faith (Rupa 2024), An Ordinary Life: Portrait of an Indian Generation (Harper Collins 2021), and An Uncivil Servant (Rupa 2006)

He is widely travelled and deeply interested in photography, river-rafting, trekking, cricket, tennis, music and reading.