Lukas Ott, lic. phil., studied sociology, art history and botany at the University of Basel. Since December 2017, he has been Head of Cantonal and Urban Development Basel-Stadt with the specialist areas of foundations and strategies, settlement development and neighbourhood development. As a publicist and consultant, he was previously the owner of an office for political research and communication. From 2000 to 2017, he was a city councillor and then Mayor and Head of the Finance Department of the city of Liestal. In this role, he was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Trinational Eurodistrict Basel, which he chaired in 2017. He was a member of the District Council from 1987 to 1996 and a judge at the Criminal Court of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft from 2006 to 2012.
He is also a board member of the metrobasel association, a think tank for the tri-national metropolitan region of Basel, and is active on various supervisory bodies.