Manfred Osten, who was born in Ludwigslust in the state of Mecklenburg, is a German author, lawyer, diplomat and cultural historian.

After fleeing to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1952, he completed his Abitur in Bad Iburg. He then studied law, philosophy, musicology and literature in Hamburg and Munich, as well as international law in Luxembourg. In 1969, he was awarded a doctorate in law for his dissertation, »On the Concept of Natural Law in Schelling’s Early Writings«.

That same year, he joined the Foreign Service and worked at the embassies in Paris, Yaoundé, N’Djamena, Canberra and Tokyo. Meanwhile, he headed the Southern Africa, Third World Policy and Eastern Europe divisions at the Federal Foreign Office in Bonn. From 1995 to 2004, he was Secretary General of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. From 2012 to 2020, he was a jury member of the Maecenas Award, organised by the Arbeitskreis selbständiger Kultur-Institute e.V. (AsKI).

His publications mainly focus on cultural studies and cultural history, including a 1996 collection of portraits of twelve Japanese writers entitled »The Eroticism of the Peach«.

He is married to Ute Osten (née Haubitz) and they have three children.