Prof. Omar was born in 1932 in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. He is married with 3 children.
He graduated in 1958 with a BVSc from Sydney University, performed postgraduate work in Veterinary Pathology (1959) at Queensland University and earned a PhD in 1966 from Cambridge University. He has received honorary degrees from the universities of Guelph, Bristol, and Queensland.
After working as a demonstrator in Veterinary Pathology at Queensland University (1959), he successively held the positions of Senior Research Officer (1970) and Deputy Director (1971) at that Institute. He then became Founding Professor and Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University Pertanian Malaysia in 1978, then Professor of Veterinary Pathology and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the same university (1982-1984).
Prof. Omar is a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (UK); honorary doctor of the University of Sterling; former president, Association of Veterinary Surgeons Malaysia-Singapore; member, National Council for Scientific Research and Development, Malaysia; president, Malaysian Scientific Association since 1984; member of the National Development Planning Committee of Malaysia since 1984; as well as being a member of the National Commission for UNESCO.
Dr Omar is past member of the executive committee of COMSTECH, past vice-president of TWNSO, and Founding Fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences (1986). He became a Founding President and Fellow of the Malaysian Academy of Sciences in 1996.
Prof. Omar Abdul Rahman has over 100 publications to his credit in many scientific fields including many books.
He has served as Advisor to the Malaysian Prime Minister on Science and Technology for over 17 years.
