Butt was born in Oldenburg[5] and raised in nearby Großenkneten,[6] where his father Jochen ran a company manufacturing loading ramps and industrial doors.

Butt joined Bayer Leverkusen on a free transfer in 2001, being the side's undisputed starter in the subsequent campaigns (he only missed one Bundesliga match in his first five seasons combined and added seven goals), and appeared in all the games (17) for a team that lost to Real Madrid in the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League final, scoring a penalty in a 3–1 home win against Juventus in the second group stage.

Schalke player Mike Hanke took the opportunity to shoot from the halfway line and scored while Butt was still jogging back to his position.

[12] Butt made his Eagles debut in the summer tournament of Torneio de Guadiana, held between Benfica, Sporting CP and Real Betis.

On 4 June 2008, Butt signed a two-year contract with reigning champions Bayern Munich and was expected to act as backup to Oliver Kahn's heir, highly rated young Michael Rensing.

With Rensing dropped to the bench following a 5–1 loss at Wolfsburg, he also started the remaining games of the season, as the initial first-choice was also nursing a hand injury.

However, a series of unconvincing displays by the youngster, including a 2–3 home loss against Inter Milan in the Champions League Round of 16 on 15 March 2011, and a 1–1 away draw with 1.

Butt was Germany's third-choice goalkeeper, behind Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann, at both the UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, remaining an unused substitute in both tournaments.

He won three international caps for Germany in friendly matches, his debut coming against Liechtenstein on 7 June 2000, where he appeared for the second half of an 8–2 routing.