Andrei Kolesnikov is a senior fellow and the chair of the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. His research focuses on the major trends shaping Russian domestic politics, with particular focus on ideological shifts inside Russian society.

Kolesnikov also works with the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy and is a frequent contributor for Gazeta.ru and Forbes.ru. His articles were published in Foreign Affairs, Project Syndicate, Financial Times, Washington Post. He sits on the board of the Yegor Gaidar Foundation and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Finnish Institute of the International Affairs and a member of the Council of the Transparency International-Russia.

Kolesnikov has worked for a number of leading Russian publications. He previously was the managing editor of Novaya Gazeta newspaper.

He has won numerous journalism awards, including the Russian Golden Quill (Zolotoye Pero Rossii) Award, the Adam Smith Prize, the Federal Press Agency Award.

Kolesnikov is author of several books, the last one is an award-winning biography of the architect of the Russian liberal reforms Yegor Gaidar.