Mr. Zharov was born in Chelyabinsk, in Russia's Urals Region, on August 11, 1964. Upon graduation from a school of medicine in 1987, he took up a job at the regional clinical hospital's intensive care unit and began scientific research at the Department of Physiological Pathology at Chelyabinsk University.
In 1997, Mr. Zharov worked as a writer and deputy editor-in-chief of the Moscow-based medical magazine Semeiny Doktor. In 1998, he was appointed as advisor to the Chair of the RIA news agency.
From 1999 through March 2004, he served as the Russian Health Minister's aide for public relations and as the official spokesman for the Health Ministry.
In January 2004, Mr. Zharov won a Ph.D. in Medicine with a thesis on healthy lifestyles. Since September 2003, he has been studying law at the Russian President's Public Service Academy. He is fluent in English and French.
Mr. Zharov is married with three children.
