Ozan Acar received a B.A. in economics from Bilkent University in 2003. In 2006, he earned a Masters degree from the same institution with his thesis entitled "Does inflation targeting matter? Evidence from industrialized countries." Acar went on to study international development at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where his graduate thesis was entitled "Igniting and sustaining structural transformation in Turkey's cities."

Acar worked at TEPAV between 2005-2009 and rejoined the foundation in 2011 after completing his graduate studies in the United States. He worked on TEPAV's projects in industrial policy, technological and regional development policies and entrepreneurship promotion programs. Acar was also the coordinator of the "Turkey Fast Growth 25 (Turkey 25) Project", a program aiming to determine the fastest growing 25 companies of Turkey.

Acar has work and interning experience with a variety of international organizations. Between 2008-2009, he consulted the World Bank about the global financial crisis' effect on Turkey's Economy. In 2010, he was an intern at the Crown Prince Counrt - Office of Strategic Affairs in the United Arab Emirates where he worked to redesign Abu Dhabi's foreign direct investment strategies. In the same year, Acar also interned at the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C. In 2010 and 2011, Ozan Acar was also a political analyst for Harvard University's Center for International Development (CID) which works to generate shared and sustainable prosperity in developing economies.

He has been working at The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey as Head of Sectors and Entrepreneurship Department since October 2015.