Klaus Schmidt (11 December 1953 – 20 July 2014) was a German archaeologist and prehistorian who led the excavations at Göbekli Tepe from 1996 to 2014.

Klaus Schmidt studied pre- and protohistory, and classical archaeology and geology at the universities of Erlangen and Heidelberg.

In 1995, he became the leader of the excavations at Gürcütepe and Göbekli Tepe in Southeast Turkey.

Schmidt purchased a house in nearby Urfa, which became his base of operations.

In a 2011 interview, Schmidt estimated that roughly five percent of the site had been excavated.