Professor Victor Axiak holds B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in biology. He has been a Professor in Biology at the University of Malta for almost four decades, where he has held various administrative posts including: Head of Department, Dean of Science, and then Deputy Dean of Science. He was instrumental in the restitution of the Department of Biology in 1987 and in the setting up of the Bachelors degree course in Biology. He has also thought and in some cases supervised the majority of biology graduates since the 1980s including many of the current staff of ERA and a large number of officials in regulatory bodies.

During this time, he was actively involved in environmental matters and conducted research in marine pollution and the application of a wide range of ecotoxicological tools to evaluate local marine quality, ranging from molecular biomarkers to satellite remote sensing. Such research included the first use of imposex as a biomonitoring tool for antifouling agents in the Mediterranean, and the first surveys of microplastics in local sandy beaches. During the 1980s he coordinated the first monitoring and research of jellyfish blooms both locally and in the Mediterranean.

He has lectured on environmental matters in several foreign universities including that of Dalhousie (Halifax, Canada) and of Barcelona. He has organized and lectured in international postgraduate courses on environment in the Mediterranean.

He has been a member of various national bodies on environment and sustainable development. He was a Board member of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, and subsequently of the Planning Authority. Since its inception in 2016, he had chaired the Environment and Resources Authority until January 2023, when his full term of appointment came to an end. These first formative years for ERA were challenging and allowed it to mature into a fully-fledged regulatory authority.

During the early 2000s he was instrumental in the setting up of the Interdiocesan Environment Commission of the Church in Malta where he acted as chairperson for 10 years until 2013. During this time, the Commission undertook various initiatives (which were new to Malta and Gozo) to show in the most effective and direct manner that environmental ethics and our responsibility towards the environment should arise from our faith and love towards the Creator. It developed policy guidelines for the Church which spelled out how its commitment towards the environment should be translated into action.

For several years, he acted as an environmental consultant to various local and international agencies, departments and private companies. He has published and/or co-edited numerous books. He is also the author of various scientific papers and reports.

Professor Axiak has a range of other interests including art. During his youth he had set up along with his friends the Għaqda Artisti Zgħazagħ which had organized a number of open-air art exhibitions including at the Mall Gardens, Floriana and the ruins of the Royal Opera House in Valletta. More recently he had contributed to two public exhibitions.