Živorad Kovačević was born in Jagodina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia),[1] of father Ilija, who spent World War II as a prisoner in Mauthausen, and mother Darinka.

Živorad Kovačević was educated at an all-male Gymnasium called "Šesta Muška" in Belgrade, and then the Journalist Diplomatic Academy (Viša Novinarsko-Diplomatska Škola)[1] graduating in 1952.

[2] Kovačević worked as the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Komuna (1954–1962), Director of Public Administration Institute (1962–1964), Vice-Secretary of the Executive Council of Serbia (1964–1967), and Secretary General of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (1967–1973).

[1] During his tenure, Sava Centar was built in time to host the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, as well as the Hotel InterContinental for the meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

After his recall from the post of the Ambassador to the United States in 1989, Kovačević retired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and spent the rest of his life as a prominent NGO activist and promoter of Serbia's integration in the European Union.

The Igman Initiative launched a "mini-Schengen" project, to bring about better relations on the territory of Former Yugoslavia similar to those that exist in the European Union, primarily in terms of a visa-free regime.

To these, he added one of his most popular works, "Lažni prijatelji u engleskom jeziku: zamke doslovnog prevođenja" (False Friends in the English Language: Traps of Literal Translation), as well as a number of titles on international relations and negotiation.