Željko Marić was born on February 4, 1972. in Sarajevo, where he finished primary school and Electrical engineering secondary school. He studied at the School of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo and the Faculty of Economics, University of Mostar, and defended his dissertation in 1998 with the topic "Objectives and Instruments of Monetary Policy". After the faculty, he completed a postgraduate study in Business Economics, majoring in Finance, defending his Master's thesis in 2002 on "Maintaining International Liquidity in the Context of Globalization." He defended his doctoral dissertation entitled "Enlargement of the European Monetary Union - Opportunities, Benefits and Risks" in 2005.

Since his faculty graduation, he has been permanently employed at the University of Mostar, where he was elected a junior assistant in 1998, an assistant in 2002, an assistant professor in 2006, and an associate professor in 2009. At the Faculty of Economics, and occasionally at the Faculties of Law and Philosophy (Departments of Political Science and Journalism), University of Mostar, he taught courses: Fundamentals of Economics, Political Economy, Micro Economy, Macro Economy, Economic Policy, National Economy, International Economy and International Economic Relations. He was hired as an external associate at the Department of Business School at the Faculty of Economics, University of Sarajevo (2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 academic year) on the subject Introduction to Economy / Fundamentals of Economy. He has mentored more than a hundred graduate theses of candidates for the title of Master of Economics, and the president or member of the Commissions for the title of Master of Science and Doctor of Science.

He has written five books, two of which, A Short Course in Economy (2003) and International Economy (2008), as a co-author, and three other, Economic Policy of a Small Transition Country (2013), Theory and Policy of Exchange Rates (2016), and History of Economic Thought - Economic Doctrine (2021), as a sole author. He has also written about fifty scientific and professional papers in domestic and international journals and in domestic and international Conferences Proceedings.

At the session held on August 10, 2021, the Governing Board of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH) appointed Željko Marić, Ph.D. as the Vice Governor of the CBBH, in charge of the Sector for Statistics, External Debt Servicing, European Integration and Payment Systems, for a term of four years, starting from August 16, 2021 to August 15, 2025.