Provided is a method and apparatus for estimating a battery state. A method of estimating a battery state that includes determining whether a previous state to a rest state of a battery is a charging state or a discharging state; selecting a current profile comprising one or both of a charging pulse and a discharging pulse based on the previous state of the battery; stabilizing an open circuit voltage (OCV) of the battery by applying the current profile to the battery; and measuring the stabilized OCV.