diff --git a/csharp/sample/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.InferenceSample/Program.cs b/csharp/sample/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.InferenceSample/Program.cs
index 888f0f7b14..0025bb8429 100644
--- a/csharp/sample/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.InferenceSample/Program.cs
+++ b/csharp/sample/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.InferenceSample/Program.cs
@@ -24,8 +24,11 @@ namespace CSharpUsage
         {
             string modelPath = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + @"\squeezenet.onnx";
 
+            // Optional : Create session options and set the graph optimization level for the session
+            SessionOptions options = new SessionOptions();
+            options.SetSessionGraphOptimizationLevel(2);
 
-            using (var session = new InferenceSession(modelPath))
+            using (var session = new InferenceSession(modelPath, options))
             {
                 var inputMeta = session.InputMetadata;
                 var container = new List<NamedOnnxValue>();
diff --git a/csharp/src/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime/NativeMethods.cs b/csharp/src/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime/NativeMethods.cs
index 756fe203e2..68da5be406 100644
--- a/csharp/src/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime/NativeMethods.cs
+++ b/csharp/src/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime/NativeMethods.cs
@@ -157,6 +157,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime
         [DllImport(nativeLib, CharSet = charSet)]
         public static extern int OrtSetSessionThreadPoolSize(IntPtr /* OrtSessionOptions* */ options, int sessionThreadPoolSize);
 
+        [DllImport(nativeLib, CharSet = charSet)]
+        public static extern int OrtSetSessionGraphOptimizationLevel(IntPtr /* OrtSessionOptions* */ options, uint graphOptimizationLevel);
+
 
         ///**
         //  * The order of invocation indicates the preference order as well. In other words call this method
diff --git a/csharp/src/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime/SessionOptions.cs b/csharp/src/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime/SessionOptions.cs
index fcd200a777..9a22b1297e 100644
--- a/csharp/src/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime/SessionOptions.cs
+++ b/csharp/src/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime/SessionOptions.cs
@@ -35,6 +35,21 @@ namespace Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime
             _nativePtr = NativeMethods.OrtCreateSessionOptions();
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Sets the graph optimization level for the session. Default is set to 1.        
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="optimization_level">optimization level for the session</param>
+        /// Available options are : 0, 1, 2
+        /// 0 -> Disable all optimizations
+        /// 1 -> Enable basic optimizations
+        /// 2 -> Enable all optimizations
+        /// <returns>True on success and false otherwise</returns>
+        public bool SetSessionGraphOptimizationLevel(uint optimization_level)
+        {
+            var result = NativeMethods.OrtSetSessionGraphOptimizationLevel(_nativePtr, optimization_level);
+            return result == 0;
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Default instance
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/csharp/test/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.Tests/InferenceTest.cs b/csharp/test/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.Tests/InferenceTest.cs
index 0fb6cd77b7..af019ecbbe 100644
--- a/csharp/test/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.Tests/InferenceTest.cs
+++ b/csharp/test/Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.Tests/InferenceTest.cs
@@ -50,12 +50,18 @@ namespace Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.Tests
             }
         }
 
-        [Fact]
-        private void CanRunInferenceOnAModel()
+        [Theory]
+        [InlineData(0)]
+        [InlineData(2)]
+        private void CanRunInferenceOnAModel(uint graphOptimizationLevel)
         {
             string modelPath = Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "squeezenet.onnx");
 
-            using (var session = new InferenceSession(modelPath))
+            // Set the graph optimization level for this session.
+            SessionOptions options = new SessionOptions();
+            Assert.True(options.SetSessionGraphOptimizationLevel(graphOptimizationLevel));
+
+            using (var session = new InferenceSession(modelPath, options))
             {
                 var inputMeta = session.InputMetadata;
                 var container = new List<NamedOnnxValue>();
@@ -664,8 +670,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.Tests
             "OrtSessionGetOutputTypeInfo","OrtReleaseSession","OrtCreateSessionOptions","OrtCloneSessionOptions",
             "OrtEnableSequentialExecution","OrtDisableSequentialExecution","OrtEnableProfiling","OrtDisableProfiling",
             "OrtEnableMemPattern","OrtDisableMemPattern","OrtEnableCpuMemArena","OrtDisableCpuMemArena",
-            "OrtSetSessionLogId","OrtSetSessionLogVerbosityLevel","OrtSetSessionThreadPoolSize","OrtSessionOptionsAppendExecutionProvider_CPU",
-            "OrtCreateAllocatorInfo","OrtCreateCpuAllocatorInfo",
+            "OrtSetSessionLogId","OrtSetSessionLogVerbosityLevel","OrtSetSessionThreadPoolSize","OrtSetSessionGraphOptimizationLevel",
+            "OrtSessionOptionsAppendExecutionProvider_CPU","OrtCreateAllocatorInfo","OrtCreateCpuAllocatorInfo",
             "OrtCreateDefaultAllocator","OrtAllocatorFree","OrtAllocatorGetInfo",
             "OrtCreateTensorWithDataAsOrtValue","OrtGetTensorMutableData", "OrtReleaseAllocatorInfo",
             "OrtCastTypeInfoToTensorInfo","OrtGetTensorShapeAndType","OrtGetTensorElementType","OrtGetNumOfDimensions",
@@ -677,7 +683,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.ML.OnnxRuntime.Tests
                 var x = GetProcAddress(hModule, ep);
                 Assert.False(x == UIntPtr.Zero, $"Entrypoint {ep} not found in module {module}");
             }
-        }
+        }        
 
         static string GetTestModelsDir()
         {
diff --git a/docs/CSharp_API.md b/docs/CSharp_API.md
index c67b3d6d25..8f4c309917 100644
--- a/docs/CSharp_API.md
+++ b/docs/CSharp_API.md
@@ -105,6 +105,12 @@ Constructs a SessionOptions will all options at default/unset values.
 Accessor to the default static option object
 
 #### Methods
+    SetSessionGraphOptimizationLevel(uint optimization_level);
+Sets the graph optimization level for the session. Default is set to 1. Available options are : {0, 1, 2}. 
+ * 0 -> Disable all optimizations
+ * 1 -> Enable basic optimizations such as redundant node removals and constant folding
+ * 2 -> Enable all optimizations (includes Level1 and more complex optimizations such as node fusions)
+
     AppendExecutionProvider(ExecutionProvider provider);
 Appends execution provider to the session. For any operator in the graph the first execution provider that implements the operator will be user. ExecutionProvider is defined as the following enum.