Patriat also served as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in 2002 and President of the Regional Council of Burgundy from 2004 until 2015.

Born in Semur-en-Auxois, Côte-d'Or, Patriat graduated from École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (ENVA) in 1968.

Patriat joined the Socialist Party (PS) in 1974 and was elected to the General Council of Côte-d'Or for the canton of Pouilly-en-Auxois in 1976, a position he retained until 2008.

Ahead of the 2012 French presidential election, Patriat publicly endorsed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the Socialist Party's candidate.

[3][4] Since November 2017, Patriat has been part of LREM's executive board under the leadership of the party's successive chairmen Christophe Castaner and Stanislas Guerini.