Vladimir Obolkin graduated from Irkutsk State University in 1968. After graduating, he works in the Laboratory of Hydrochemistry and Atmospheric Chemistry of the Limnological Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences as a senior research fellow. In 1983, he received his PhD from Leningrad State University. During his work, he has authored and co-authored more than 30 scientific articles in various journals. He also has participated in a number of Russian and international scientific projects (in one of them as a leader).