Born on May 5, 1970 in Tokat, Mahmut ÖZER graduated from İstanbul Technical University (İTÜ) Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering in 1992. Between 1992 and 1994, he worked as Electronics Engineer at the Dalaman Airport affiliated to the Directorate General of State Airports Authority (DHMİ). He completed his post-graduate and doctorate programs at the Karadeniz Technical University (KTÜ), Institute Of Science, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering between 1996 and 2001. He worked as a lecturer at Gazi Osmanpaşa University between 1994-2002 and as a faculty member at Zonguldak Karaelmas University between 2002-2010.

Özer was the Rector of the Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University between November 28, 2010 and October 4, 2017 and served as Chairman of the Inter University Council between August 1, 2015 and August 1, 2016. Özer who also carried out Executive Board Member and Deputy Chairman of Vocational Qualifications Institute (MYK) and Executive Board Member of Turkish Standards Institute (TSE), and was appointed as the Chairman of the Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) on October 4, 2017. Özer served as the Deputy Minister of National Education between August 8, 2018 and August 5, 2021. On August 6, 2021, he was appointed as the Minister of National Education.