Petra Olschowski

Petra Olschowski has been State Minister for Science, Research and the Arts in Baden-Württemberg since 2022. After graduating from high school, she initially decided to train as a retail saleswoman in the art trade. In 1986 she studied art history and German language and literature at the University of Stuttgart, graduating with a master's degree. During her studies she already worked as a freelance journalist, freelance editor, lecturer for costume design and art history as well as curator of exhibitions in Germany and abroad. From 1996 to 2002 she worked as an editor for the Stuttgarter Zeitung after completing a voluntary service. In 2002 she moved to the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg GmbH as managing director, where she developed cross-disciplinary funding programmes. In 2010 she became the first rector of the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart. From 2016 to 2022, she was already State Secretary at the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts.