Ojārs Kalniņš has served as the Director of the Latvian Institute, a state agency that provides information about Latvia, since 2000. Kalniņš served as Latvia's Ambassador to the United States from 1993 until 2000 and has worked for the Latvian Government since 1991. From 1985 until 1990 he was a lobbyist for the Latvian American Association in Washington, D.C.and prior to that worked for in the advertising business in Chicago as a creative director. He was born in Munich, Germany in 1949.