Lyonchen Jigme Yoser Thinley (Dzongkha: འཇིགས་མེད་འོད་ཟེར་འཕྲིན་ལས་; Wylie: 'Jigs-med 'Od-zer 'Phrin-las) (born 1952) has been the Prime Minister of Bhutan since April 2008. "Lyonchen" is a title, meaning "prime minister".

Thinley was born in Bumthang and joined the civil service in 1974 upon receiving a graduate degree from The Pennsylvania State University. In February 1987, Thinley was awarded the title of Dasho and the Red Scarf, and in 1990, under the zonal system, he became administrator of the Eastern Zone. He then became secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1992 before being appointed as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs in January 1994, at which time he was also awarded the Orange Scarf. Later in 1994, he was appointed as Bhutan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations office and other international organizations in Geneva.

Prior to the beginning of democracy, he was Prime Minister twice, from July 20, 1998, to July 9, 1999, and from August 30, 2003, to August 20, 2004. During this period, chairmanship of the council was based on rotation once per year, with the order of rotation decided by the number of votes secured during the time of election to the council. Jigme was also the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bhutan from 1998 until 2003 and subsequently served as Minister of Home and Cultural Affairs.

Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche (1931-2011) (Wylie: gdung sras ’phrin las nor bu), was a major modern teacher in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and patron of the Vajrayana Foundation. He was the eldest son of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche, the former head of the Nyingma lineages, and also the father of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. His association with the Dudjom Lineage is a long one: he is held to be the incarnation of Tulku Drime Oser, who was one of seven sons of Dudjom Lingpa (sGas-gter bDud-‘joms Gling-pa Khrag-‘thung Nus-ldan rDorje 1835-1904). He also was considered to be an emanation of Longchen Rabjam, the great 14th century Nyingma scholar and siddha who composed the Seven Treasuries.

In his youth in Tibet he studied for 9 years at Mindrolling Monastery, one of the six major monasteries of the Nyingma school in Tibet. Having fled Tibet, he spent some time in Bhutan, where his son was born, and in his later years he divided his time between the United States and Nepal.

During his exile in the West he wrote a number of books including: