[1][2][3] He was a distant relative of Omer Nishani, Chairman of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania's Presidium, but during communism Bujar changed his surname to Mehmeti.

[1] He graduated at the Skanderbeg Military University in 1988, and followed up in 1996 with master's studies on "defense resources management" in the United States at the Naval Postgraduate School.

In 1996 he returned to work as Chief of Staff to Safet Zhulali, then Minister of Defence, a position he held until the Democratic Party lost the 1997 parliamentary election.

[15][16] Bujar Nishani was sworn in on 24 July 2012, becoming the country's youngest president ever; in his inaugural speech, he announced that his priority was to reform the judicial system, as well as Albania's integration into the European Union.

After meeting with President Atifete Jahjaga, Nishani expressed Albania's support for Kosovo's independence, stating that it was irreversible and that dialogue was necessary to resolve any problems with Serbia.

In 2013, he did not attend the summit of ministers of the South-East European Cooperation Process, which was held on 31 May in Macedonia, because, due to objections from Serbia, the president of Kosovo was not invited.

[25] Nishani demanded to the President of Greece Karolos Papoulias, in November 2013, that the Greek parliament abolish the war against Albania, declared in 1940, in an attempt to resolve above all the Cham issue.

[26] In 2014, he criticized the lack of transparency in the process of approval of the package of laws on the armed forces and the Defense Intelligence and Security Agency,[27] and rejected the reform of the Albanian judicial system, as he considered that it should be carried out by judges and not politicians.

[30] In April 2016, he opposed the law presented by the government equating citizenship with arms, considering it "inadequate" and "not positive"[31] The election of nine new Supreme Court judges on 26 June 2016 caused much controversy at the top of the judiciary, as five of them accused Nishani and president of the Supreme Court of acting without complying with the legally prescribed form.

[32] During his final address to the United Nations, at the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2016, he stated that Albania would address global challenges in close cooperation with others, and that Albania's actions would include increasing humanitarian aid, ratifying the Paris Agreement on climate change and implementing all commitments in the security realm.

[33] During most state visits abroad, Nishani's policy was maximally oriented towards strengthening good-neighborly relations, citing its support for Kosovo's participation in all multilateral regional and international activities.