Marcus Optendrenk

Marcus Optendrenk (born 1969) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Minister of Finance of North Rhine-Westphalia since 29 June 2022. He was first elected to the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2012.

Early life and education Optendrenk was born in 1969 in Lobberich, North Rhine-Westphalia. From 1988 until 1995 he studied law, history, and English at the universities of Trier and Maastricht. He obtained a doctorate in history.

Early career From 1999 until 2005, Optendrenk worked as a policy researcher for his party's group in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, working first on infrastructure and, from 2001, on fiscal matters. After holding a posting at the state's ministry of finance for two years,

In the negotiations to form a coalition government of the CDU and Green Party under Armin Laschet following the 2017 state elections, Optendrenk was part of his party's delegation in the working group on economic affairs, infrastructure und financial policy. According to Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, he was considered for a positions in Laschet's cabinet In late 2022, Optendrenk's budget was found to be unconstitutional by the state's auditing authority for reappropriating more than four billion Euro of debt taken on for the purpose of COVID-19 relief.

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition under the leadership of Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2025 German elections, Optendrenk was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on public finances, led by Mathias Middelberg, Florian Oßner and Dennis Rohde.

Other activities Corporate boards KfW, Member of the Board of Supervisory Directors (since 2025) NRW.BANK, Ex-Officio member of the supervisory board (since 2022)

Non-profit organizations Aktion Deutschland Hilft (Germany's Relief Coalition), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2022) Action Medeor, Member of the Advisory Board

Personal life Optendrenk is married and has one son.