Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene

Oyun-Erdene was born on June 29, 1980 in Maternity Hospital # 2, in Ulaanbaatar. His parents got divorced at early age. Therefore, he was raised by his grandparents from his mother’s side. To mention about his father, Lhagva is an educator and an artist. Mr.Lhagva dedicated his career to reform Mongolian high-school education system. He established Mongeni high school complex in 1996. His mother, Ms. Davaasuren was a musician who plays clarinet in the Academic Theater of Classical Arts. After her retirement, she started Soyol Foundation which aims to support classical arts in Mongolia. Mr. Luvsannamsrai, Oyun-Erdene’s grandfather, was the first principal of a school in Mörön, Khentii Province. He carefully guided Oyunerdene’s self-paced study of Tibetan and Mongolian scripts as well as chess in his early age. Eventually he grew up to be a socially active child who was curious and interested in many things. His childhood friends and classmates say that he was very active during high school as he used to play flute, wrote poetry, played basketball and volleyball. He was also an athlete and a member of a music band. Thus, his teachers cheered him up calling him a "Jamsran with 60 vocations” (verbally translating as a person with 60 vocational skills). Even though, he started his elementary school in the at School #28 in Ulaanbaatar, he had to move back to Khentii province to live with his grandfather after his grandmother’s death in 1990. Therefore, he finished his high school in Khentii province. Mr. Luvsanamsrai, Oyun-Erdene’s grandfather, had a great respect for Batbayar Darma, one of the greatest figures in Mongolian literature. Thus, he asked Mr. Batbayar to train his grandson in Mongolian literature. Oyun-Erdene was enrolled in Bers University, founded by Batbayar Darma, and graduated from it as a journalist. After his mentor passed away Oyun-Erdene together with the deceased’s family and students founded the Batbayar Darma Foundation. Oyun-Erdene graduated from the Law School of the National University of Mongolia in 2008 with a Bachelor degree in Law. He also graduated from the School of Social Sciences of the National University of Mongolia in 2011 with a master's degree in Political Science. Oyun-Erdene then graduated from Harvard University in 2015 with a master's degree in Public Policy. He started his career in the countryside. At age 21, he was appointed as the Head of the Governor’s Office of a village named Berkh, Khentii Province. While giving a presentation for World Vision International representatives with a mind to bring in an international project to his province he was extended an invitation to work for them and accepted it. He worked for World Vision International for more than six years and specialized in community-based development policy. During this time he attended specialized training for international development workers organized by World Vision in cooperation with the University of Melbourne, and worked in the Philippines and Thailand during a short period of time. During his employment with World Vision, Oyun-Erdene was instrumental in empowering local community groups such as the Community Based Organizations and Children’s Self Governing Organizations to take actions at the national level, which later helped him receive strong support from Mongolia's younger generation.

He started to participate in political activities from 2008. While serving as the head of the Social Development Department of the Bayanzurkh District of the capital city, he led the election campaign Bayanzurkh-Neg Zurkh (verbally translated as 'Rich Heart- One Heart') and won 100% in this largest district of the capital city. This event inspired him immensely in his political endeavors. Shortly after being appointed as the Head of the then, Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP), in the Political Department in 2009, he initiated and developed the AGENDA-6 Reform Program. Based on this program, he was instrumental in changing his party’s name to the original name of the MPP by deleting the word “revolutionary”. This resulted in a strong conflict and opposition among former party leaders, leading to a division in the party and eventually to the 2012 parliamentary election defeat. However, losing the election was tough for him, it was rather a good learning experience. His next move was to study at [[Harvard Kennedy School for Master of Public Administration. While studying in the United States, he befriended many young leaders from all over the world which had a major impact on his search for a great long-term vision for Mongolia. Later in 2015, he founded the Asian Steed Policy Research Institute with his fellow alumnus from Harvard and other prestigious universities. After returning to his country, he published his second book, The “The steed country of Asia”, in which he outlined a plan for Mongolia to become a leading country in Asia in terms of economic and social development by 2050. This caused quite a stir among the community. He also declared that Mongolia shall create its own developmental model that is in line with the world's most advanced development concepts, yet one that is unique. He said he would fight against corruption, which is the biggest obstacle to Mongolia's development, and bring about a completely new country in 30 years’ time. In 2016, he was elected as a member of Parliament in Mongolia. From day one, he declared his fight against corruption. His fight escalated into two large demonstrations held in 2018 involving more than 30,000 citizens.[8] This was the second major demonstration in Mongolia's history since the 1992 Democratic Revolution.

At the request of Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, the Prime Minister of Mongolia, Oyun-Erdene became the Minister and Chief of the Cabinet Secretariat of Mongolia. Shortly after his appointment, Oyunerdene headed working groups to regulate illegal mining operations and began his fight with corrupt oligarchic groups.

He also made a significant contribution to the amendment of the Constitution of Mongolia and to the process of ensuring stability and feasibility of 1.7 year length governments.

He also initiated and led the process for the development of the “Vision 2050” long-term policy of Mongolia, which encapsulates the past 30 years and envisions the upcoming 30 years in Mongolia and had it approved by the State Great Khural (Parliament).

He proposed strategies to make Mongolia digital nation from 2020 to 2025. The first action of this program was E-Mongolia, an online platform which provides high-demanding 181 services to citizens.[9] As result of this, there has been significant impact on fighting red-tape bureaucracy, mid-level corruption as well as supporting the government to operate more open and transparent.

Oyun-Erdene loves to collect historical documents and antique items. For instance, he owns a collection of rare and unique books, antiques and paintings. Oyun-Erdene owns 50% of the shares of Hero Entertainment Group, an production company which is run by his half-brother Mr.Baatar.[10] Hero Entertainment is one of the biggest productions in Mongolia which also produced several movies that were shown internationally. It also produces one of the most prestigious contents, movies, and videos. Oyun-Erdene published his first book Vision in 2005 and his second book “Asian Steed Country” in 2015. He is a member of Baabar.mn's best publishers' club and has written a series of interesting articles.[11]

Oyun-Erdene is married to Tuul, who was his classmate at high school. They have three children.

• http://progressive-alliance.info/2017/05/18/list-of-participants-conference-in-ulaanbaatar-25-26-may-2017/ Progressive Alliance
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXKgggGxrY / Talk with Jargal De Facto