Andrea Orizio was born in Brescia on 25 January 1967. He graduated in Law from the University of Milan in 1991, completed postgraduate/master's degree courses in international careers at ISPI (Institute for International Political Studies) in Milan and SIOI (Italian Society for International Organisation) in Rome, and entered the diplomatic career in 1992.
Deputy Head of the Africa Office (Economic Affairs) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1993, he served in the Office of the Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister of Defence in 1993–1994 and then at the Armament Material Authorisation and Control Unit (UAMA) in Foreign Affairs until 1995.
First Secretary and Head of the Economic-Commercial Office (Deputy Head of Mission 1996–1997) at the Italian Embassy in Prague from 1995 to 2000, he became Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Italian Embassy in Zagreb from 2000 to 2002. During that period, he was also NATO-Croatia Contact Officer. From 2002 to 2004, he was Deputy Head and from 2004 to 2005 Head of the Western Balkans Office (GD European Countries) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome.
From 2005 to 2008, he was First Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Italy to NATO, in Brussels, responsible for Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, Middle East, NATO Partnerships and Western Balkans, NATO-Ukraine, NATO-Georgia, enlargement (accession of Albania and Croatia), Operation Active Endeavour, NATO-EU relations, and a member of the NATO Political Committee.
From 2008 to 2013, he was Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Italian Embassy in Cairo. At the outbreak of the “Revolution”, on 25 January 2011, he was Chargé d'Affaires a.i. and oversaw the 130 staff members of the Italian Embassy and Italian System institutions in a hazardous situation. From 2013 to 2014, he was Head of Counter-Terrorism and Global Challenges at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Directorate General for Political Affairs) in Rome.
From 2014 to 2016 he was Head of the Balkans Unit, InCE and IAI (Balkans Director) at the European Union Directorate General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in Rome, as well as National InCE Coordinator, EUSAIR and EUSALP EU Macro-regional Strategies, Western Balkans Process. In 2016, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary. From 2016 to 2020, chosen after an international selection process, he was Ambassador/Head of Mission OSCE in Serbia (150 people of 15 different nationalities and a €10 million annual budget, with direct responsibility).
From 2020 he was at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation as Head for Central and Northern Europe and Deputy to the Deputy Director General/Central Director for European Countries (DGUE), from 2021 to 2023 Deputy to the Deputy Director General/Central Director for European Countries, Coordinator for EFTA Countries and the United Kingdom at the Directorate General for European Countries and International Trade Policy. In 2022–2023, he was also DGUE coordinator for the Rome EXPO2030 bid, integrated into the “Special Envoys”.
Since 6 March 2023, he has been Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the Political and Security Committee-COPS of the European Union in Brussels. He is married, has two children. He speaks fluent French and English, has knowledge of Czech, Croatian, Serbian, and basic Arabic. He is an Official Knight of the Order of Merit of the Republic and a member of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Sanremo.