Arno Kompatscher, born in 1971 in Fiè allo Sciliar and resident there, studied law at the universities of Innsbruck and Padova. From 2005 to 2013, he was mayor of the municipality of Fiè allo Sciliar, and from 2011 to 2013, he was president of the South Tyrolean Association of Municipalities and the Council of Municipalities. He was elected to the South Tyrolean State Parliament in 2013. He has been governor of South Tyrol since 2014 and a committed advocate of the European ideal.

Kompatscher was a teacher of law and economics, head of the legal and contract office of the market town of Castelrotto, and from 2004 to 2013, he was executive president of the Seis-Seiser Alm Umlaufbahn AG.

He is the father of seven children.