[9][10] From 1994 to 2006, Kahn was in the Germany national team, in which he played as a starter after the retirement of Andreas Köpke, he was an unused member of the squad that won the 1996 UEFA European Championship.

Kahn made a mistake on Brazil's first goal; nonetheless, he received the Golden Ball as player of the tournament.

[12] Kahn was included in the team's professional squad in the 1987–88 season of the first Bundesliga division, at first being the reserve goalkeeper behind Alexander Famulla.

He was considered a key player and a motivator in the Karlsruher SC squad which reached the semi-finals in the 1993–94 UEFA Cup.

[15] During the round of sixteen the team accomplished a 7–0 rout of Valencia at its home field after losing the first match 1–3 at the Mestalla Stadium.

With his Bayern Munich team losing 2–3 in the final minutes, he sneaked into the area during a corner kick, jumped up, and punched the ball into the opponent's net.

[30][31] He also received the UEFA Fair Play Award for this match, after he walked up to a disappointed Santiago Cañizares, the opposition goalkeeper, after the penalty shoot-out and attempted to comfort him.

[32] The same year, Bayern Munich won the Intercontinental Cup at Tokyo's National Stadium against the Argentine team Boca Juniors.

[31] By Kahn's account, injuries, personal problems and a lack of motivation were responsible for his game going into a rapid decline during the 2002–03 season.

[33][34] This culminated with Kahn allowing a seemingly soft shot by Roberto Carlos into the net against Real Madrid in the first knockout-round of the 2003–04 Champions League season, contributing to the elimination of his team from the competition.

[39] Kahn made his final European appearance for Bayern in a 4–0 defeat to Zenit Saint Petersburg in the UEFA Cup semi-final on 1 May 2008.

[42] After a 20-year career, of which he played 14 with Bayern, he had his professional farewell in a testimonial match versus the select Germany XI on 2 September 2008, which ended 1–1.

[44] Kahn was initially called for the Germany national team as a late back-up for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as third keeper behind veteran starter Bodo Illgner and Andreas Köpke;[45] however he made his first international appearance on 23 June 1995 in a 2–1 victory against Switzerland,[46] two months after recovering from his cruciate ligament injury.

[49] Two years after the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, in which defending champions Germany made an embarrassing exit in the group stage,[50] Kahn received the squad's captaincy, succeeding the striker Oliver Bierhoff.

[58] Playing the final match with torn ligaments in his right ring finger, Kahn conceded the first goal by fumbling a rebounded shot from Rivaldo to the feet of striker Ronaldo in the 67th minute.

Kahn maintained his number one spot for the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship,[65] but Germany were once again eliminated in the group stage.

[66] Germany's new manager Jürgen Klinsmann, who replaced Rudi Völler, adopted the strategy of rotating the number one spot between Kahn and his longtime competitor, Jens Lehmann of Arsenal, to stimulate competition between the two.

Kahn and Lehmann embraced and shook hands as the former offered words of encouragement before the quarter-final penalty shoot-out against Argentina.

[71] Although overshadowed by Bastian Schweinsteiger's game-winning performance in the match, Kahn played to a high standard, pulling off several saves.

[29][76] Due to his performances during the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Kahn gained popularity in Asia.

[85] On 1 June 2021, it was announced that Kahn would take over the CEO position at Bayern Munich starting 1 July 2021, succeeding retiring Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

[89] Rolf briefly played professionally for Karlsruher SC, as did his son Axel, Oliver Kahn's older brother.

[91] Two years thereafter, in April 2011, a German court fined Kahn €125,000 ($182,223) for tax evasion after failing to declare more than €6,000 of luxury clothing he bought on a trip to Dubai.

[92] He supports the Munich street-football league Bunt kickt gut,[93] which is considered a pioneer project of organised street-football and a Germany and Europe-wide model of intercultural understanding, education values and prevention;[94] the Sepp-Herberger foundation, which promotes football in schools, clubs, and prisons;[95] and the Justin Rockola Association, whose goal is the protection of young people against violence, alcohol and drugs.