Bijoyananda (Biju) Patnaik was born in Cuttack, Orissa, on 5th March 1916 to Laxminarayan Patnaik and Ashalata Devi. His father was a great nationalist and was closely associated with two architects of modern Orissa – Madhusudan Das and Gopabandhu Das. Biju had his early education in Mission Primary School and Mission (Christ Collegiate) School of Cuttack and in 1927 he joined the famous Ravenshaw Collegiate School, at Cuttack. It was here that he first saw Mahatma Gandhi who was on a ‘Khadi Tour’ to Orissa. Biju was assaulted by a British police officer as he tried to get a glimpse of the Mahatma. After a brief stint as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, Biju got actively involved in the Quit India Movement. He was arrested on 13 January 1943, sentenced to two years imprisonment, and lodged in Firozpur Fort Jail. After his release from jail in 1945, Biju was elected to Orissa Assembly in 1946 from North Cuttack Constituency.
After India’s independence, he served two terms as the Chief Minister of Orissa (June 1961 – October 1963; and March 1990 – March 1995), as Member of Parliament (1977–85) and briefly as the Union Minister of Steel, Mines, and Coals (July 1979 –January 1980). He died on 17 April 1997.
Source: https://odisha.gov.in/odisha-profile/eminent-personalities/biju-pattanaik