His son, Ridzwan Othman, confirmed his death at 5pm today to FMT, saying it was due to severe pneumonia.

Othman began his career in the civil service in 1967 as an assistant district officer in Sepang, Selangor, later taking on key positions in several ministries, including as transport ministry secretary-general.

His last position in the civil service before his retirement in 2000 was as treasury secretary-general, during which he also served as the finance ministry’s representative on the boards of MAS, Petronas, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, and Bank Negara Malaysia.

After his retirement, he took on various corporate sector posts, including managing director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd; non-executive chairman of Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, Ikram Sdn Bhd and Penang Port Sdn Bhd; as well as chairman of Bank Industri & Teknologi Malaysia Bhd, and Export-Import Bank Malaysia Bhd.

Othman obtained his bachelor’s degree in history at Universiti Malaya, and his master’s degree in public policy and administration from the University of Wisconsin in the US.

He is survived by three sons and a daughter.