Peter J. Obst was born in Poznan, Poland; he came to the United States in 1963 and later became an American citizen. He attended Holy Ghost Prep, and then Drexel University in Philadelphia, graduating with a B.S. Degree in Commerce and Engineering in 1977. He also has an M.A. Degree in Central and Eastern European Studies LaSalle University (2005). On graduating in 2005 he was named the Outstanding Graduate Student in the Central and Eastern European Studies program. While still a student he twice received LaSalle's Leo Award for his essays on local Philadelphia history.

He was employed by Mrs. Paul's Kitchens (a frozen food processor), the US Steel Corporation, and Dow Jones, publishers of The Wall Street Journal. While working for US Steel he earned a private pilot's license and became active in the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) through its local Chapter 176 in nearby Trenton, becoming its newsletter editor. In 1988 he won the McKillop Award for the best chapter newsletter in the EAA. Later, he became president of the chapter and held a number of other offices in the organization, including membership in the Chapter Advisory Board for the national organization.

Peter is a prolific writer and lecturer giving many presentations on Polish topics in both the Polish and English languages. He has written free-lance articles that appeared in The Wall Street Journal Europe, Private Pilot magazine, the Polish-American Journal and other publications. His frequent travels to Poland and familiarity with the Polish language led to a translation of Jaroslaw Kurski's book Wódz, which was published in 1993 by Westview Press of Boulder, Colorado under the title Lech Walesa: Democrat or Dictator?. Several other translations followed. In 1994 he started a home based business, preparing books for publication. Over the next few years he completed publishing assignments for Westview Press, the University of California, the Polish Embassy in Washington, Princeton University, and many other customers.

Since 1996 he has been employed by the Poles in America Foundation, started in Philadelphia by Mr. Edward Pinkowski, a well-respected Polish-American Historian. He initiated and completed placement of Historical Markers under rules of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. These markers honor: Moland House, where Count Casimir Pulaski of Poland met Washington for the first time, bridge engineer Ralph Modjeski, WWII pilot Col. Francis Gabreski, aviation pioneer Frank Piasecki, and bio-medical engineer Walter Golaski. See the picture and links to the historical markers below.

In addition to his writing and publishing activities he designed and maintains websites for several Polonia organizations. He is a board member of the Polish Heritage Society of Philadelphia, the American Council for Polish Culture, the Kosciuszko Foundation and a long time member of the Polish Arts Club of Trenton. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Polish Heritage (2000-2001), the American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC) quarterly newsletter. He lectured part-time at LaSalle University in Philadelphia and at Bucks County Community College and has given presentations on Polish topics in both the Polish and English languages. He participated actively in conferences organized by the Polish-American Historical Association, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences, and the Pulaski Museum in Warka, Poland. HIs articles frequently appear in the Polish-language weekly Nowy Dziennik and in other publications.

Among his numerous awards Peter received the Cavalier's Cross of the Order of Merit by decree of the President of Poland (2001); the Pulaski-O'Neill medal from the Savannah Pulaski Jubilee Committee (2004); & The Eagle of the Polish Senate (2009).