Anwar, a Bangladesh citizen, holds a Master's in Engineering from the former USSR and has undertaken higher education in environmental management in the USA, Japan, and India. Anwar has over 30 years' technical and managerial experience in the development, environmental and natural resource sectors dealing with various government and non-government organisations and international agencies. Previously he worked 10 years as a Senior Government Official in the Department of Environment, Bangladesh, in addition to three years as head of Bangladesh Country Office of IUCN - the World Conservation Union, Switzerland.