Born in 1974, Podgoršek has a PhD in agrarian economics from the Biotechnical Faculty in Ljubljana, where he also completed his undergraduate studies.

He started his professional career in business before taking a job at the Biotechnology and Tourism School Grm in Novo Mesto in 2004, where he was involved among other things in a curricular reform and headed the school's Business Education Centre.

Before becoming a state secretary in 2018, he was the dean of the College for Rural Management Grm in Novo Mesto, a school he helped establish.

From 2015 until his appointment to the state secretary post, he also acted as Slovenia's first food supply chain ombudsman, a post dedicated to monitoring the actions of food supply chain stakeholders.

Podgoršek said during his confirmation hearing that Slovenian agriculture faced numerous challenges but also has a lot of potential. He said it was necessary to invest in development, knowledge transfer and digitalisation.

Some of his priorities include legislative changes to prevent African swine fever, changes to legislation governing land use, and modernisation of the Farmland and Forest Fund. He plans to dedicate special attention to the SiDG, the state-owned forestry company.