Mitja Bricelj, MSc is a graduate geographer and ethnologist, born on 4 April 1959 in Ljubljana, where he completed Gimnazija Vič High School. In 1978, he enrolled at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana in geography and ethnology, focusing his studies on geographical environmental protection. He graduated from the Faculty in 1984 with his diploma work "Degradation of the environment in the case of Industrija usnja Vrhnika (Vrhnika Leather Industry)" for which he was granted a Prešeren Student Award.

 
In the period 1984–1986, he worked as a journalist for the newspaper Delo, in the period 1986–1990 as a researcher at the Institute of Geography of the University of Ljubljana, and in 1991 he completed his master’s studies with a thesis entitled "The Economic Use of the Sava River and Environmental Protection.  Since 1990, he has been employed at the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia.  

 
He also took an active role in Slovenia's first participation as an independent state in the UN at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

 
He has been the president of the Permanent Slovene-Austrian Committee for the Drava River since 1991. 

 
In the period 1993–1997, he was the director of the Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for the Protection of Nature at the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning. 

 
Since 1993, he has been national coordinator for the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution with its appurtenant protocols (Barcelona Convention) providing a legal basis for implementing the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP/UNEP); additionally, in the period 2001–2003 he was a member of the Bureau of the Convention.

 
Since 2003, he has been the president of the Association of Geographical Societies of Slovenia, and author and project manager of "Sharing the Wealth of Water: First Slovenia Water Education Path".