Olga B. Jonas, born in 1954, joined the World Bank Group in 1983 through the Young Professionals program. Her career as an economist and later adviser at the Bank spanned over thirty years. From 1985, Jonas served as an economist in the West Africa Division (WA1DA) of the Africa Regional Vice Presidency. She was a senior economist in the Country Operations Division (AF5CO) between 1987 to 1993 where she led policy reform operations and analytical work. In 1994, she transferred to the Resource Mobilization Department, Replenishment Operations Division (FRMRO) where she was a principal economist and worked on several International Development Association (IDA) replenishments and related policies. In early 2002, Jonas joined the Office of the Vice President, Operations Policy and Country Services (OPCVP) as an economic adviser. She was responsible for operational policy issues including small states, the international task force on small states, and emergency responses. From 2006 until her retirement in 2016 while still an economic adviser, Jonas served as the avian and human influenza response coordinator responsible for managing the Bank's program to reduce pandemic threats in collaboration with external and internal partners. She maintained this role first within OPC units (2006 - 2009) and then in the Human Development Network (HDN) from July 2009 and its successor, Health, Nutrition, and Population Department Global Practice (GHN). Under HDN and GHN, she served in the following units: Office of the Vice President and Head of Network (HDNVP); Network Operations (HDNOP); Health, Nutrition and Population Team (HDNHE); new Office of the Director (GHNDR) after the Bank-wide 2014 reorganization; and Health, Nutrition, and Population Europe and Central Asia Region (GHN03).

Prior to joining the Bank, Jonas held positions at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). She received her Bachelor of Arts (BA) at Williams College studying political economy and geology, and at Princeton she received a Master of Public Administration (MPA) in 1979 and Master of Arts (MA, ABD) in the field of international trade and finance, labor economics, and urban economics, in 1983.