Between 2007 and 2013, Pamuk was chair of Contemporary Turkish Studies at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science.

He co-authored A History of Middle East Economies in the Twentieth Century (1999) with Harvard-based historian Roger Owen.

His last book published in Turkish in 2014 and in English in 2018 examines Turkey's record of economic growth and institutional change during the last two centuries.

Pamuk was professor and chair of contemporary Turkish studies at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, during 2008–13.

He is married to Yeşim Arat Pamuk, retired professor of political science at Bogazici (Bosphorus) University.