Dragutin Mate was born on 2 May 1963 in Čakovec. He spent his youth in Maribor and then moved to Ljubljana, where he studied at the Faculty of Sociology, Political Science and Journalism (today: the Faculty of Social Sciences), reading defense studies. The theme of his thesis was state terrorism. He holds a degree in defense studies.

In 1989 he was employed as a teacher at the Poljane Grammar School in Ljubljana. The following year he joined the Ministry of Defense, working in various fields. From 1990 to mid-1991 he was the deputy sector chief for Civil Defense and a member of the Republic Civil Defense Staff. In 1991 he worked in the counter-intelligence department of the Ministry of Defense. In 1992 he received the post of International Cooperation Adviser in the office of the defense minister and was responsible for international cooperation at the Ministry of Defense. In 1994 he concluded the Swiss International Relations University Seminar (SIRUS) for diplomats in Switzerland. In 1996 he took up the post of resident military and air-force attaché in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In this period he assumed the leadership of the military diplomatic corps in Bosnia-Herzegovina. After his return to Slovenia he served as deputy director of the Military Affairs Administration at the Ministry of Defense. In 2000 he was the director of human resources at the Ministry of Defense, he then became the director of Defense Administration, Ljubljana.

He lives in Ljubljana, is married and is the father of two children.

He is fluent in English, Croatian and Serbian.