Željka Cvijanović was born on March 4, 1967 in Teslić, where she completed primary and secondary school. She graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Banja Luka. She completed her specialist studies in the field of diplomatic and consular law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Banja Luka by defending her final thesis on the topic „The International and Legal Position of the European Union“. From February 2006, she served as an advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska for European integration and cooperation with international organisations, and after that she was elected the Head of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska. She headed the Coordination and European Integration Unit in the Government of the Republic of Srpska and was an expert member of the Committee for European Integration and Regional Cooperation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska. She was elected to the position of the Minister for Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation in the Government of the Republic of Srpska in December 2010. In March 2013, she was elected to the position of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska Government, as the first woman to hold that position. In December 2014, she was re-elected to the position of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska Government. In the General Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 2018, she was elected to the position of the President of the Republic of Srpska. In the General Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 2022, she was elected to the position of the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is married and a mother of two children.