Завхан
Ochirbat was born on January 23, 1942 in Tüdevtei district, Zavkhan Province. His father is from Govi-Altai Province. He adopted his mother's name "Punsalmaa" after his father died in 1947. From 1951 to 1960, he attended school in Ulaanbaatar and then studied at the Leningrad Higher School of Mining, graduating in 1965 with a degree in mining engineering. That same year he returned to Ulaanbaatar and joined the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.