Dr Arend Oetker was born in 1939. After studying Business Administration and Political Sciences at the Universities of Hamburg, Berlin and Cologne from 1962 to 1966 and Marketing at Harvard Business School in 1966, he earned his doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Cologne in 1967.

He is Managing Director of Dr. Arend Oetker Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of COGNOS AG (education) as well as Supervisory Board member of Leipziger Messe. Furthermore he is Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors of the nutrition company HERO AG in Switzerland (e.g. jams, baby and toddler food) and KWS Saat SE (plant breeding). Besides his entrepreneurial activities, Arend Oetker is engaged in various voluntary activities: He is Chairman of the German Council for Foreign Relations e.V. (DGAP), Member of the Presidential Board of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA), and Honorary Member of the Presidential Board of the Federation of German Industries e.V. (BDI).

As a connoisseur and enthusiast of music and contemporary art, Arend Oetker is involved in the council of Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI e.V. (Association of Arts and Culture of the German Economy at the Federation of German Industries). He supported the restructuring of St.-Petri-Church in Lübeck and was a co-founder of the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Leipzig. Furthermore he is active in the board of trustees of Stiftung Bach Archiv Leipzig and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In 2007, he was rewarded with the Grand Cross for Distinguished Service of the Federal Republic of Germany.