Boris Bakrač trained as a civil engineer but later became deputy mayor of Zagreb, and then Minister of Public Works for Croatia, and eventually served in the Croatian and Yugoslav Parliaments. In sports administration he became President of the Croatian Football Union, and was President of the Yugoslav Sports Union from 1957-62. Bakrač was co-opted onto the IOC in 1960 and served until 1987, when he turned 75-years-old. During his tenure he organized the meeting of the IOC Executive Board and the National Olympic Committees at Dubrovnik in 1969, helped organize the 1979 Mediterranean Games in Split, on the Adriatic Coast, and was greatly responsible for the 1984 Olympic Winter Games being held in Sarajevo.