Przemysław "Przemek" Ogrodziński was born to a Polish family in Lemberg (modern Lviv, Ukraine) in the Austrian Empire.

Ogrodziński graduated in law from Jagiellonian University in Kraków, before returning to his hometown of Lwów, where he became active in the Związek Niezależnej Młodzieży Socjalistycznej (Union of Independent Socialist Youth).

[10] Despite the difficulties, it is estimated that Ogrodziński as the treasurer of the Lwów branch of Żegota was able to extend financial assistance to between 100–200 Jews living in hiding in the city.

"[11] At considerable risk to her life, Halina Jacuńska-Ogrodzińska hid two Jewish women, Maria Glass and Olga Lilien, for she which was recognized by the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem as one of Righteous Among the Nations on 28 June 1979.

In October 1944, Ogrodziński became a member of OMTUR (Oganizacja Mlodziezowa Towarzystwa Uniwersytetu Robotniczego-Youth Organization of the Workers' University Society).

His opportunity came with the proposed European Defence Community (EDC) which would permit West German rearmament, a subject arousing fierce opposition in France at the time.

[13] Working closely with Sergei Vinogradov, the Soviet ambassador in Paris, Ogrodziński sought to maximise the traditional French sympathy for Poland to make the case that the EDC was a reckless move, endangering the peace of Europe.

[13] Ogrodziński also claimed in talks with the French officials that the United States, by forcefully supporting West German rearmament, was a danger to all of Europe.

[13] As part of his diplomacy, Ogrodziński cultivated French politicians, reminding them of the historical Franco-Polish friendship going back centuries, and in December 1953 arranged for the visit of a group of National Assembly members to Poland.

[13] In July 1954, the French National Assembly rejected the EDC treaty with the general feeling in France being that it was too dangerous to allow West Germany to have a military again so soon after the end of World War Two.

Ogrodziński was given much leeway to operate in the manner that he felt best on the ICC, and contrary to expectations held in the West, he did not consult much with Moscow, Beijing or Warsaw before making a decision.

[16] The government of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent was reluctant to have Canada involved in the ICC and only agreed under heavy American pressure.

The Poles also wanted to keep their delegation small owning largely to a shortage of diplomats and soldiers with the necessary knowledge of French and English.

[18] A particular problem were the uniforms provided to the Polish delegation, which were not designed for the tropics and which disintegrated after being run through the washing machine a couple of times.

[22] The new Polish Foreign Minister, Adam Rapacki, was one of the leaders of the more liberal side of the Communist party, but most of the team he selected were people who had loyally served the Stalinist regime.

[24] For many of Ogrodziński's generation, the refusal of the West German government, established in 1949, to recognize the Oder-Neisse line as Poland's western frontier, whilst maintaining a territorial claim to various territories now part of Poland, looked alarmingly similar to the refusal of successive German governments, in the interwar period, to recognize the eastern frontiers of Germany established by the Treaty of Versailles.

[26] Rapacki was a self-described "socialist humanist" who spent much of World War Two in a German POW camp and who had reluctantly joined the Communist Party in 1948.

[27] Through Eisenhower's gambit was intended to force greater defense spending in western Europe, in Warsaw the mere suggestion that the United States was going to arm West Germany with nuclear weapons provoked immense fear as the Poles were convinced that the West Germans would use nuclear weapons against them sooner or later to take back the lands east of the Oder-Neisse line.

[34] During the Marigold talks, Ogrodziński was in regular contact with Roland Michener, the Canadian high commissioner in New Delhi, as proposals were made to have a conference chaired by the ICC powers.

[34] Ogrodziński advised Warsaw to "express our consent", as rejecting the proposal would "strengthen Rightist tendencies" in the Indian government, while accepting it "could be played out to show that the rigidity of the Canadians makes it impossible to come to an understanding".

[35] In 1968, in the aftermath of the "March Events", Ogrodziński refused to join the "anti-Zionist" campaign that saw a number of Polish Jews sacked from their jobs.