Zahir Raihan was born on 21 September 1968 in Comilla district, Bangladesh. He graduated from Jahangir Nagar University Savar, Dhaka with Honors and got his Masters in Economics in 1989 and 1990 respectively. He did the MPP from KDI School of Public Policy and Management in 2006.
He joined the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) Cadre in the Ministry of Public Administration on 15 November 1995. He has been performing his duties in various capacities at the local administration as well as in ministries/divisions.
Currently he is serving in the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the Planning Ministry where his main responsibilities include monitoring and evaluating the Annual Development Program. He has participated in various training and knowledge sharing programs in the country and abroad.