Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Ali Kuli Khan Khattak was educated at Aitchison College Lahore and graduated from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1964 and holds a Master Degree from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. He belongs to a prominent industrial family of KPK.
He retired from the Pakistan Army as its Chief of General Staff in 1998 and then join the family business, which includes Tyre Manufacturing, Insurance, Cotton Spinning Mills, Woollen Textiles, Finance, Construction and Trading Services Companies.