Gornin was born on 30 December 1972 in
Novosibirsk, in what was then the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in the
Soviet Union. He worked in various commercial enterprises for his early years, before graduating from the
Siberian Commercial Academy of Consumer Cooperatives in 1997 with the speciality of "engineer-technologist". After his graduation he was appointed controller-auditor in the Office of the Control and Audit Department of the Ministry of Finance of
Novosibirsk Oblast, becoming senior controller-auditor in 1998. Between 1999 and 2004 he rose through the positions of a deputy head of department, and then a head of department and chief accountant of the Finance and Tax Policy Department of the Administration of Novosibirsk Oblast. In 2004 he graduated from
Siberian State Transport University specializing in "accounting, analysis and audit", returning to the post of head of department of Novosibirsk Oblast's Finance and Tax Policy Department. He remained in this role until 2010, undertaking further studies at the Siberian Research Institute of Agricultural Economics and graduating in 2007. He is a Doctor of Economics, and has held the civilian rank of a
1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation since 2019. ==Academic work==