Željka Cvijanović was born in 1967 in Teslic, where she completed elementary and high school. She obtained university education at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, the Faculty of Philosophy in Banja Luka and the Law Faculty in Banja Luka.
She is professor of English. She completed postgraduate studies at the Law Faculty in the field of diplomatic and consular law.
She worked as a teacher and an English professor, as a senior translator, and then as an Assistant to the European Union Mission in BiH, as Advisor to the Prime Minister for European Integration and cooperation with international organizations, and she also served as Chief of Cabinet Affairs of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska and managed the Unit for Coordination and European Integration.
She was appointed as Minister of Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation in the Government of Republika Srpska in 2010. In the period from 2013 to 2018, she served as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska.
She is currently serving as the President of the Republic of Srpska.
She is married and mother of two children.