From a 13-month contract at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 1995 to leading the institution that world leaders now consult for guidance, Fatih Birol plays a dominant role in shaping global energy politics amid rising insecurity, geopolitical fragmentation and the push toward a clean transition.
After working for 20 years in different positions at the IEA, the Turkish energy economist has been heading the institution since 2015 as the executive director. The Paris-based organization's forecasts and scenarios influence investment decisions worth billions, and its warnings can unsettle governments.
Born in Ankara in 1958 to a military doctor and a housewife, Birol describes a childhood marked less by ambition than by family cohesion.
His father, who came from humble beginnings, worked multiple jobs to support the household. "We were known as the happy family," Birol told Anadolu Agency (AA). "Having your parents beside you gives a child confidence." He spent his childhood between family, school and playing football in the streets.
Birol was, by his own account, an average student. At the Istanbul Technical University, where he studied electrical engineering despite his father's wish that he become a doctor, he says he was "almost average." The lesson he draws today is simple: academic brilliance is not destiny. "If you love your work, you can succeed."
For a time, his ambitions lay far from energy economics. He flirted seriously with cinema, making short films and working as an assistant director before moving to Vienna to attend the Film Academy. But then reality intervened. To make ends meet, he shoveled snow and took manual jobs. "I realized that life was not as easy as it seemed – especially financially," he said.
A scholarship from the Austrian government redirected him toward energy economics. Birol received an MSc and a Ph.D. in energy economics from the Technical University of Vienna.
31 years at IEA
An oil analyst position at OPEC followed. The pay was good and the contract was permanent. Yet something felt narrow. "I wanted to work on global issues, especially those affecting developing countries," he said. So, he made a decision that still defines his narrative: left a lifetime contract for a 13-month position at the IEA.
"I chose the 13-month contract," he said. "And this year marks my 31st at the IEA."
He joined the IEA at an entry-level position in 1995. That same year, an election for executive director of the institution was underway. Birol recalled what he thought back at the time: why not me as the head of the IEA, one day?
Over the years, he rose to chief economist and in 2015, became the agency's first internal candidate to be elected executive director by unanimous vote. He was reelected for a third term in 2022.
On the day he was elected in 2015, he asked for a moment to call home. Birol wanted to call his father, but could not as he was ill. He spoke instead to his mother, who recently turned 90 and whom he still calls every morning, no matter where he is.
Despite international honors – including France's the Legion of Honour, the country's highest distinction and the Japanese Emperor's Order of the Rising Sun – he said the greatest happiness lies in telling his mother about them. "Making her happy is what matters the most."
Energy, geopolitics
Birol's tenure as the head of the IEA has coincided with a decade in which energy security, climate policy and great-power rivalry have converged. He meets world leaders regularly and shares the IEA's forecasts with them.
He speaks often about data. The IEA's authority, he noted, rests on numbers rather than ideology. "We always, always look at the data," he said. "Not emotions. Not politics, not ideology but data."
Beyond energy, Birol's long-standing passion remains for Galatasaray, a football club in Istanbul. He tries to schedule around match fixtures and even watches games at 3 a.m. if necessary, especially when he travels. "If I don't watch, I can't sleep," he admitted.
His mornings begin early as he rarely sleeps late and always with Turkish tea. "I cannot live without Rize tea," he said, referring to the black tea produced in a province in the Black Sea region of Türkiye.
A routine day of his mostly continues with back-to-back meetings.
"I have been in this sector for very long years but have not seen a period when energy and geopolitics were so deeply intertwined. Geopolitics casts a dark shadow over energy," he said.
It is his philosophy of hard work that has carried him from snow-covered streets in Vienna to the inner circle of global energy diplomacy – proof that a 13-month contract can sometimes reshape an institution, and perhaps a global industry.
At 67, with more than four decades in the field, Birol also offered younger professionals a measured credo: align passion with economic stability. Passion alone can be precarious; money alone can be empty. The two together, he believes, sustain a career.