Ioannis Amanatidis was born on June 2nd 1961 in Kilkis to a family of teachers. He lived in Terpni, Serres until 1978. He is married to Stamatia Moustaka, who is also a teacher. He is a father of two. 

Mr. Amanatidis concluded his studies in the Oil Chemist Department in Kavala and in 1985 he graduated from the Pedagogical Academy of Thessaloniki. He was employed as a teacher from 1985 in primary schools of the Kalamaria district, in Thessaloniki. 

Since 1996 he has been a member of the Executive Board and a Secretary of the 1st Primary Education Teachers΄ Association of Thessaloniki, a member of the Executive Committee of Civil Servants’ Organizations’ Union of Thessaloniki and a representative in the General Council Meetings of the Teachers’ Federation of Greece, of the aforementioned organizations, of the Civil Servants’ Confederation and was also present at political movements and primary bodies’ initiatives.

He was elected a member of Parliament for the first time in the general elections held on June 17th 2012 with SYRIZA in the 1st Electoral District of Thessaloniki, ranking 2nd in votes, while in the following general elections held on 25th January 2015 he came first among SYRIZA candidates in the respective district.

He was president of the Special Permanent Parliamentary Committee for the Greek Diaspora, a member of the Supervisory Committee of Government Work for Education and Foreign Affairs of SYRIZA, a member of the Standing Parliamentary Committee for Educational Affairs and the Special Permanent Committee for Research and Technology, as well as responsible for the Syriza Parliamentary Group for Religions. 

Until July 2016 he held the position of Secretary-General of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, an international organization, aiming at enhancing contact between parliamentarian, political, ecclesiastical, academic and spiritual figures or institutions for the development of Orthodox cultural legacy and its contribution to modern universal dialogue for human rights and peaceful coexistence.         

On July 17th 2015, until August 2018, he was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister, an office with a portfolio responsible for:

Religious and Cultural Diplomacy - Human Rights, Minorities, Refugees and Migrants

- Environmental Protection

- Educational and Cultural Affairs

- Religious and Ecclesiastical Affairs

- Administrative and Judicial (i.e.: Consular) Affairs

- Olympiad and International Sports Relations

-Promotion and development of Philhellenism

-overlooking the Translation Service

He was also the Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Climate Change and follows issues pertaining to climate change and the respective policies and actions under the Foreign Ministry.