Maulen Ashimbayev was born on January 28, 1971, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He graduated from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University with a degree in economics. He also studied at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, obtaining a master’s in international relations. He has held numerous positions, including Director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, and First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration. In May 2020, he was appointed Chairman of the Senate of Kazakhstan and was re-elected in January 2023.