Bili is a graduate of the French National School of Public Administration (ENA) and joined the French Foreign Ministry’s Strategic Affairs and Disarmament Directorate (1991-93). Seconded to the Defense Ministry as Deputy Diplomatic Adviser (1993-95), he then held several positions at the Quai d’Orsay.
In 2002, he was Director of the Private Office of the Minister Delegate for European Affairs and became technical adviser at the Diplomatic Unit of the Presidency of the French Republic (2002-07). Bili has successively held the positions of Ambassador to Thailand (2007-09), Director of the Defense Minister’s Civilian and Military Office (2009-10), Ambassador to Turkey (2011-15), and then to Brazil (2015-17).
Prior to his appointment in Washington, Laurent Bili was Ambassador to China since September 2019.
