Gili Yaari was born in Israel in 1971.
Yaari received a B.S.C degree in Computer Science and Mathematics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1997 and has worked in several engineering positions.

Gili started to photograph in 1992 and describes himself as "self trained". In 2005 he studied Documentary Photography at 'Contact Photography School' in Tel-Aviv which lead him to focus on long term documentary photography projects dealing with humanitarian and social issues.

Yaari has participated in several group exhibitions in Israel and worldwide including The Save a Child's Heart (SACH) Photography Exhibition which is a joint project of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and SACH, launched as part of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. The Exhibition is traveling around the world in five copies: USA, Canada, Europe, Australia/Asia and Africa.