Graduate in Economics and Business Studies from the Higher Business Studies School (ESTE) in San Sebastián, 1963. Graduate Diploma in Psychology from the School of Psychology and Psychotechnics (Complutense University), 1966. Bachelor of Laws from the San Sebastián Faculty of Law (University of Valladolid), 1975. Graduate Diploma in Religious Sciences from the Higher Institute for Religious Sciences from the University of Deusto and the Bishopric of Bilbao, 2010.

Ignacio Mª Echeberria was born in San Sebastián. He is married and has three daughters. He has combined his professional business life with academic and political activities. He taught Human Relations at Business Games and Industrial Psychology at the ESTE at different periods between 1966 and 1979. He worked for different companies in Guipuzcoa (Transpacar, Perot) and Vizcaya (Indumetal) between 1963 and 1977.

He was the first Director-General of the Basque Study and Research Institute (IKEI) when it was constituted in 1977 and has been a member of its board of Directors since 1982.  Later, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Guipuzcoa and then for Vizcaya in Legislatures I and II and was awarded the Cross of Honour of San Raimundo de Peñafort (Ministry of Justice) in 1984.

As the first President of the Governing Body of the UPV/EHU (University of the Basque Country) and remained in office from 1990 to 1994. More recently he was President of the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Shipping and Vice-president of the Board of Directors of the Chambers of Commerce from 1998 to 2010. In early 2011, he was appointed member of the Board of Directors of BBK Bank CajaSur.

He has been President of Indumetal Recycling, S.A. since 1988.