Himsar Ambarita was born in Kampung Jagung, on the outskirts of the PTPN IV plantation in Simalungun, on June 10, 1972. He is a professor at the Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) in the Faculty of Engineering and ranks 44th in the category of influential scientists worldwide. Himsar is listed among the top two percent of influential scientists globally, according to Elsevier BV and Stanford University.

He completed his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at USU, from July 1991 to September 1997. He earned his master's degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) from August 1998 to June 2001, and pursued his doctoral studies at Muroran Institute of Technology, Japan.

Himsar has also served as an expert team member in various projects, including the preparation of the Regional Action Plan for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Reduction for the Government of North Sumatra in 2012, the Development of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) on Small-Scale Renewable Energy in Indonesia in 2013, and the preparation of the USU Long-Term Plan (RJP) 2014–2039, the Strategic Plan (Renstra) 2014–2019, and the Strategic Plan 2020–2024. Additionally, he has held the position of Chair of the World Class University (WCU) Team at USU. Now, he serves as a Director at the Directorate of Internationalization and Global Partnerships.