[2] Prior to his appointment, Ocampo served in a number of positions in the United Nations and the Government of Colombia, most notably in the United Nations as Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Colombia as Minister of Finance and Public Credit and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

[4][5] Ocampo's native Colombia declined to endorse his bid, however, and with limited backing he withdrew from the race on 13 April 2012 and swung his support behind Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

He has also written co-written a book chapter, with Stephany Griffith-Jones, Helping control boom-bust in finance through countercyclical regulation in Towards human development new approaches to macroeconomics and inequality.

Juan Camilo, 20, graduated from Horace Mann School and is currently in his second year at Columbia University where he is pursuing a double major in Mathematical Economics and Philosophy.

Maria José, 19, also graduated from Horace Mann School and is currently a first-year student at Boston College where she works towards a double major in Psychology and Art.