Mr. Hari Narayan was born in Mumbai in 1948 and he is the 3 rd son of Late Mr. J.B. Rao and Mrs. Kamala Bai. His father worked in Indian Railways from where he ultimately retired in 1970 as Additional Member of the Railway Board. In the course of his illustrious career, he had served in several parts of India and consequently Mr. Hari Narayan’s education was in Chennai and in Delhi - in three spells at each city. He earned a B.Sc (Hons.) in Physics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and an MA in History from Madras Christian College , Chennai; and subsequently joined the IAS in 1970.

Mr. Hari Narayan has served in several districts in Andhra Pradesh including Khammam, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Srikakulam, Krishna and Cuddapah. He served for many years in the fields of public enterprises management, infrastructure sector development and in industrial financing. He has been Managing Director of the Leather Industries Corporation, Small Scale Industries Development Corporation and the Industrial Development Corporation of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. He has also served in the Electricity Board, the Singareni Collieries and in the Steel Industry. He was also the MD of the Irrigation Development Corporation and Principal Secretary, Irrigation. Mr. Hari Narayan has served in the Government of India as Under Secretary in the Ministries of Defence and Education; as Joint Secretary in the Ministries of Coal and Food Processing; as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development; and as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministries of Programme Implementation and Statistics; and in the Ministry of Water Resources. Finally he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2006 from where he superannuated in February, 2008.

In his career, Mr. Hari Narayan was involved in very many notable events, some of which are – the first privatization of a large scale public sector industry in India , namely, the Hyderabad Allwyn Limited; the evolution and design of the E-procurement system of the Government of Andhra Pradesh while he was serving as the Principal Secretary, Irrigation etc.

As MD, AP Small Scale Industries Corporation, he provided the impetus for the development of the Cherlapalli Industrial Estate which has now grown into a very significant industrial hub. As MD of the APIDC, he enabled the commencement of the Software Technology Park in Hyderabad which was a building block of the Hyderabad software industry. Mr. Hari Narayan has led the Indian team in the negotiations of various aspects of the WTO negotiations in relation to Trade in Processed Foods and related matters. As Secretary, Water Resources to the Government of India and as Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh, he led the Indian team to International Tribunal for the resolution of a major dispute with Pakistan on matters arising out of the Indus Waters Treaty.

Mr. Hari Narayan is involved with many Non-Governmental Organizations working in the fields of Rural Development and Care for the Elderly. He is a great music lover and keenly listens to different forms of classical music.

Mr. Hari Narayan is married to Mrs. Kameswari and they have a daughter. Mrs. Kameswari is a well-known international and national consultant in the field of education, particularly for the education and training of adolescent girls in Rural India.