Mrs Nevenka Črešnar Pergar was born in 1962 in Celje. After completing her studies and defending her undergraduate thesis entitled "The Relationship between International and National Law" in 1985, for which she was awarded the Zore Award, Mrs Črešnar Pergar served an internship at the Higher Court in Ljubljana. After passing the bar examination she was employed in the state administration. As assistant to the Minister for Energy she was in charge of the field of nuclear energy and participated in international negotiation groups. She was a member of the Slovenian-Austrian international commission for the conclusion of the agreement on the exchange of information in the event of radiological hazard, a representative in the Standing Committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency for amendments to the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, and a delegate to the General Assembly of the IAEA. At the first annual session of the EBRD in 1991 Mrs Črešnar Pergar presented the investment opportunities and requirements of the Slovenian energy sector. As the head of the legal and administrative affairs section at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, she actively participated in the preparation of extensive new legislation, and managed international Phare projects in the field of energy. She was also a member of the first negotiation team in negotiations with Croatia on the Krško Nuclear Power Station.

In 1995 and 1996 Mrs Črešnar Pergar, as secretary-general, helped create the conditions for the launch of the Court of Auditors of the Republic of Slovenia, the most important institution for supervision of budgetary fund expenditure. She was then employed in the AKTIVA Group as executive director.

She also completed her postgraduate studies at Clemson University in South Carolina in the United States of America where she was awarded an MBA in 1998.

In 1999 Mrs Črešnar Pergar became Secretary-General of the Government. She was also the National Coordinator for SIGMA (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management in Central and Eastern European Countries).

In March 2001 the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, on the Prime Minister's proposal, appointed Mrs Črešnar Pergar Ministerial Counsellor in charge of coordinating the reform of the state administration and the e-government project, as well as making her responsible for the project eliminating administrative barriers (debureaucratisation program of the Slovenian Government)

Throughout her career, Mrs Črešnar Pergar has continually updated her education at a number of national and foreign training institutes both in the fields of economics and state administration operation. She is active in numerous associations.