On 24 February 2014, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) appointed Nalyvaichenko the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU),[3] on 18 June 2015 he was relieved of the office.

[11] In June 1984 he finished the first year of Kharkiv State University and in 1984-86 served in the Soviet armed forces as a conscript.

[11] Since 2020 Nalyvaichenko studied in the Institute of Continuing Education at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv from which he graduated with honors in September 2022, received a law degree.

[11] In 1991-93 he was a student of the Andropov Institute of KGB (today is Academy of Foreign Intelligence), but refused to accept his diploma.

[11] After returning from abroad, he worked in the central department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MZS) for the Consular administration.

[11] In 2001-03 Nalyvaichenko worked as a general consul (adviser), for the Embassy of Ukraine, Washington, D.C.[11] In 2003-04 he was a director of the Consular service department of MZS.

As head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Nalivaychenko was noted by a number of resonant statements: As of 2017 Nalyvaichenko is the leader of the political movement Spravedlivost (Justice).

[26] In July 2017, Spravedlivost created a "joint action headquarter" with the political party Movement of New Forces of Mikheil Saakashvili.