A graduate from Cairo University, he studied for six years in the United States, where he obtained his master's degree from Harvard Law School.

[2] El-Baz later joined the Egyptian foreign service, and was made chef de cabinet with ambassadorial rank in 1977.

Following Sadat's assassination in 1981, Egypt's new president Hosni Mubarak took El-Baz as an advisor, where he headed the Presidential Office for Political Affairs.

El-Baz was considered an éminence grise,[3] and was more influential than most members of the Cabinet, especially in foreign-policy matters.

El-Baz was even spotted during the 18-day Tahrir Square sit-in in January 2011, at the start of the Arab Spring.