 Dhan Singh Rawat was born in a hamlet in Pauri Garhwal and educated at the village school.He earned master's and doctoral degrees from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University.A party secretary for the BJP in Uttarakhand, he failed to gain election to the state legislature in 2012 in the constituency of Srinagar Garhwal; he entered the legislature in 2017 and has since served as a State Minister (Independent Charge) with responsibility for higher education, cooperatives, dairy development and protocols.