Andrej Vizjak was born on 6 August 1964 in Brežice. After graduating from the grammar school in Brežice, he studied at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Ljubljana. He continued with post-graduate studies in the same field, in 1994 earning his master's degree in electrical engineering. In 2006 he obtained the Association of Supervisory Board Members Certificate.

He began his career at Litostroj in Ljubljana. He was later employed at the Jožef Stefan Institute, where he worked on research and development projects in the field of computerising industrial processes for Videm Krško, a cellulose and paper factory. In 1994 he was employed as a labour inspector at the Krško unit of the national Labour Inspectorate.

In 2000 he was appointed state secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs. He was elected to the National Assembly in the 2000 parliamentary elections and became the head of the SDS deputies group. Two years later he ran in local elections and was elected mayor of the Municipality of Brežice. In 2004 he was again elected to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.

Minister Andrej Vizjak speaks English, and has a passive command of Croatian.