Ravi S. Prasad joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1990. He superannuated from the Government of Assam, where he held two concurrent posts: Special Chief Secretary for the Environment & Forest and Soil Conservation departments, and Director General of the Assam Administrative Staff College.

Prior to this, from 2013-2021, he worked as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change and Chairman of Central Pollution Control Board.

He was the chief negotiator for Climate Change for India and also National Focal Point, Green Climate Fund (GCF), Adaptation Fund (AF), and climate Technology Centre and Networks (CTCN) from 2013 to 2021. Currently he is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Climate Crisis Commission Steering Committee.

Before joining the Government of India, he was the District Magistrate of Nalbari and Jorhat district in Assam. He also held a variety of posts, including CEO of the Flood and River Erosion Management Agency of Assam (FREMAA), Government of Assam; Commissioner and Secretary of Finance at the Labour and Employment, Planning and Development, Co-operation, Tourism, Forest Department; and Managing Director of Assam Finance Corporation.

He has a Master in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics as well as a MPA from Columbia University, New York.