Andreas Michaelis studied political sciences, philosophy, English, and economics. He entered the German Foreign Service in 1989. After working as a Private Secretary to Helmut Schäfer, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, he took over the position as First Secretary Political Affairs at the German Embassy in Tel Aviv. He worked as UN Directorate-General and as Spokesperson of the Federal Foreign Office before he became German Ambassador to Singapore from 2002 to 2006. He was appointed Director for Asia and the Pacific and later Director for Near and Middle Eastern Affairs and the Maghreb. After serving as German Ambassador in Tel Aviv, he became Political Director in July 2015. Since 2018, Andreas Michaelis is a State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office.