Egil Lothe was born in 1954 in Norway. Developing a deep interest in Buddhism during his late teens he became a disciple of Venerable Kalu Rinpoche in 1977. He has studied Buddhism from a number of monks, in Europe as well during visits to Asia. He received his MA in Religious studies, including studies of Pali and Sanskrit, from the University of Oslo in 1987 with a thesis on "Concept of Mission in Theravada Buddhism". He has authored a number of books and articles on Buddhism and related topics. He is also engaged in inter-religious dialogue and promotion of freedom of religion internationally. Since 2006 he is engaged in the official Sino-Norwegian dialogue on Human Rights.
Since 1987 Egil Lothe has been the president of the Buddhist Federation of Norway, a government recognized faith community of 13 Buddhist associations with more than 12.000 members. Among his engagements in that capacity is being the leader of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities in Norway (1999-2003). He is a member of the ICUNDV EXCO since 2008.
