Otmar Böss grew up in Tyrol, Austria, and developed an early interest in how economic change, political institutions, and societies shape one another. He studied sociology, politics & economics at Zeppelin University, where he also worked as a research assistant and taught statistics, macroeconomics, and applied data analysis. His undergraduate research focused on the socioeconomic drivers of left- and right-wing populism using cross-country data and quantitative methods.

Alongside his academic work, Otmar gained practical experience across policy, consulting, and economic research, including positions at the European Parliament, EY-Parthenon, and Deutsche Bank Research. Most recently, he worked on macroeconomic and geopolitical research, including a comparative project on defence innovation ecosystems in Germany, the United States, and Israel.

He is now pursuing an MA in analytical political economy at Duke University. His interests lie at the intersection of political economy, macroeconomics, inequality, innovation, and industrial policy. He is particularly interested in questions that cannot be understood through economics or politics alone and hopes to use rigorous quantitative research to better understand the institutional forces shaping prosperity, democracy, and technological change.