He served as the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic from March 2012 to January 2013.

[1] From 2007 to 2012, he was the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic.

He was the fourth person and the first member of Czech Air Force to serve at this position.

He graduated from Military Technical Secondary School in Nové Mesto nad Váhom in 1975.

In 1993, Picek finished his postgraduate degree from Czech Technical University in Prague and in 1997 he finished the follow-on academic course of the General Staff at the Military Academy in Brno.