Leonardo Orlando holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from Sciences Po Paris, a BA and MA in Philosophy from Sorbonne, and a post-doctorate in Cognitive Science and Evolutionary Psychology from the École normale supérieure de Paris.

He has been lecturer at various universities in Europe and Latin America, as well as a researcher at the Centre de recherches internationales de Sciences Po Paris (CERI), at the French Institut for Research in Africa (IFRA-Nairobi), at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la Argentina (CONICET), at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, at the University of Economics in Bratislava and at the University of Oslo.

As an academic, his research focuses on biological and evolutionary approaches to political behaviour. As an intellectual, he writes regularly for the French and Hispanic press, and is an active member of different organisations devoted to democracy, academic freedom, and the defense of the West.