Chief of the State Chancellery and State Minister

Oliver Schenk was born in Dachau on August 14, 1968. He is Roman-Catholic, married, and lives with his family in Dresden. After completing his schooling, he studied Economics in Münster. Having graduated as an economist, Oliver Schenk began his professional career in the Saxon civil service in 1994, initially at the State Ministry for the Environment and Regional Development. In 1999, he moved to the Ministry of Finance, initially as a speech writer and later as the Finance Minister’s chief clerk.

From 2002 to 2005, Oliver Schenk was the chief clerk of Minister-President Georg Milbradt, and between 2005 and 2009, he was the head of the departments of Portfolio Co-ordination and Political Planning, Federal Affairs & International Affairs at the Saxon State Chancellery. Mr Schenk then moved to the Saxon State Ministry of the Interior as the head of the Administrative Upgrading and IT department.

In 2010, he relocated to Berlin, where he became area manager at the national party headquarters of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU). From 2014 to 2017, he led the department of Corporate Policy and Telematics at the Federal Ministry of Health in Berlin.

Tasks

The head of the State Chancellery helps the Minister-President determine policy regulations. They co-ordinate the State Chancellery's work with the Landtag (state parliament) and ministries, and prepare cabinet meetings and Minister-President conferences. They check to ensure enacted laws comply with the constitution, and are also responsible for media policy and media law in Saxony. The State Minister additionally acts as the contact person for all issues of principle. This includes the federal and State constitution within the Minister-President's legal jurisdiction, as well as issues concerning the State territory and its subdivision, as well as general issues relating to the State administration and the authorities' structural organisation.

The Free State of Saxony and its citizens have come a long way in recent years, providing a solid basis for further development. Both then and now, the main challenges lie in security and creating new jobs. The more successful this is, the better we, will be able to handle other issues too, such as demography and emigration. The Free State of Saxony's contribution will include an administrative and functional reform adjusting the State structures to the altered population numbers and declining funds.