Ranko Debevec was born in 1964 in Sarajevo, where he graduated from the School of Law, University of Sarajevo in 1988, achieving an average grade of 9.74 in his studies. In recognition of his outstanding academic achievement, he was repeatedly awarded the honors by the University of Sarajevo "Hasan Brkic" Fund. He completed the internship at the Municipal Court II in Sarajevo and at attorney Žarko Bulić's Law Firm, and, after passing the bar exam in 1990, he worked as a specialist in that court. In the period between 1995 and 2000, he worked as an interpreter and advisor with the UNPROFOR and NATO missions, and between 2000 and 2005 he was a legal advisor with the Commission for Real Property Claims of Displaced Persons and Refugees (CRPC), with the Hypo Bank in Sarajevo and at the Public Attorney's Office of the Centar Municipality. From 2005 to 2008, he served as a Prosecutor in the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo. On 10 April 2008, he was appointed Prosecutor in the BiH Prosecutor's Office and in the period from 2010 to 2012 he was a member of the Council of Europe's IPA Project Team tasked with combating cyber crime. On 12 December 2012, he was appointed a judge in the Court of BiH.

In the matters of criminal law, he attended numerous national and international seminars and training sessions.

On 14 December 2016, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina at its session in Mostar decided to appoint Ranko Debevec to the position of President of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

By Decision of the FBiH Ministry of Justice, in December 2017 he was appointed as a member of the Bar Exam Commission at the level of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He passed the attorney’s exam in 2020 before the Bar Chamber Commission of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.