Began his career in education as a lecturer in the Faculty of Mineral Technology at Trisakti University since 1974 in addition to being a Natural Resources Consultant-Basic Earth Science System. He then completed his master degree at two different universities namely the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA, and the University of Colorado at Boulder Main Campus, USA. Furthermore, he continues completing his doctoral studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder Main Campus, USA. While completing his doctoral studies, he also became a lecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder as a lecturer in the Department of Economics in 1989.
During his career, Purnomo Yusgiantoro is an Indonesian politician who is the former president-secretary general of OPEC, former Indonesian Minister of Energy for three presidents, and former Minister of Defense if the Republic of Indonesia.