A Graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and Chief Engineer of the French Corps des Mines, Patrick Pouyanné held various positions in the French Industry Ministry and in ministerial offices from 1989 to 1996, including Environment and Industry Technical Advisor to the Prime minister from 1993 to 1995 and Chief of Staff to the information technology and space minister from 1995 to 1996.

Patrick Pouyanné joined the company TotalEnergies (ex Total) in January 1997, with positions in Angola and Qatar in 1999.

In August 2002, he was named Senior Vice President, Finance, Economics and Information Systems in Exploration & Production, then Senior Vice President, Strategy, Business Development and R&D in Exploration & Production in 2006.

In January 2012, he was appointed President, Refining & Chemicals and member of the Executive Committee.
On October 22nd, 2014, the Board of Directors appointed Patrick Pouyanné as Chief Executive Officer, and he became simultaneously President of the Executive Committee.

On May 29th, 2015, Patrick Pouyanné was appointed at the Board of Directors and on December 16th, 2015, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer.

Patrick Pouyanné is also member of the Board of Cap Gemini, Association Française des Entreprises Privées (AFEP), Institut du Monde Arabe, Ecole Polytechnique and Institut Polytechnique of Paris. Patrick Pouyanné is President of the Alliance for Education, French association against dropping out of school. Patrick Pouyanné is President of the Association Française des Entreprises pour l’Environnement.

He has been a Knight of the Legion of Honor since April 2015, and Officer of the Legion of Honor since march 2024.