He also served as the chief inspector of the Civil Service before being appointed Governor and worked at the Interior Ministry as the Head of Strategy Development.

He is a former Kaymakam (Sub-Governor of a district) Adnan Yılmaz was born in Gürün, Sivas in 1954 and graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1977.

He is the older brother of Justice and Development Party MP İsmet Yılmaz, the former Minister of National Defence and current Speaker of the Grand National Assembly.

[1] Yılmaz served as the Kaymakam for the districts of Şebinkarahisar, Boğazlıyan, Gürpınar, Nusaybin, Perşembe.

On 1 August 2012, the government appointed him as the 7th Governor of Düzce and was confirmed by President Abdullah Gül.