WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Obama administration has offered the position of "drug czar” to Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, a senior administration official confirmed to CNN Thursday.

Kerlikowske has accepted the nomination for the cabinet-level post, formally known as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the official said. His nomination is subject to Senate confirmation.

Kerlikowske, 59, is a military veteran with 36 years of law enforcement experience. The "drug czar" oversees an agency that sets the country's drug-control strategy.