Barbara Koželj Podlogar holds a Bachelor's degree in Art History and a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy. After studying at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana, where she was awarded the Student Prešeren Prize for her degree in Art History, she published reviews and criticism in various newspapers and on national radio.

She has extensive managerial and international experience in the field of culture. At the Ministry of Culture, she was Director General of the Arts/Creativity Directorate from 2007 to 2013 and Head of the Office for European Affairs and International Cooperation from 2013 to 2015. Immediately afterwards, she headed the SKICA Slovenian Cultural Information Centre in Vienna for six years, until 2021. Among other things, she headed the coordination group for presentations of Slovenian creativity abroad and was responsible for Slovenian literature presentations at book fairs in Prague, Leipzig and Frankfurt.

She was a member of the Council of the European Capital of Culture Maribor 2012 and the administrator of this project at the Ministry of Culture. From 2012 to 2015, she was the national representative of the European Commission's Open Method of Coordination Working Group on Cultural and Creative Industries. She has also been involved in various major projects in the field of cultural policy.