Oliver Hirschbiegel (born 26 March 1957) is a German film director. His works include Das Experiment and the controversial Der Untergang.

A Waldorf graduate, Hirschbiegel studied painting and graphic arts, later film, at the Hamburg University of Visual Arts. In 1986 he directed his first film, the made-for-TV movie Das Go! Projekt, the script for which he had written himself. He became a successful TV director, directing numerous episodes of the Tatort and Kommissar Rex series. His first theatrical release was the well-received Das Experiment, followed by Mein letzter Film, which also met with critical approval.

In 2004 he attracted world-wide attention with the movie Der Untergang (released in English-speaking countries as Downfall), produced by Bernd Eichinger. It recounts Adolf Hitler's last days, and sparked an extensive debate in Germany over the portrayal of Nazi leaders, but for Hirschbiegel, it also brought a number of prizes, including a nomination for the Academy Award for the best foreign film.

He directed his first Hollywood feature The Invasion, which was re shot by Australian director James McTeigue.

Born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1957. In his teens he left high school and worked as a cooker in a boat. Then he studied painting and graphism in the Academy of arts in Hamburg where he also started experimenting with video and photography. Those experimental movies attracted the attention of some producers of the German TV. Hirschbiegel became popular thanks to his tv movies (especially dramas and thrillers). In 2001 he shot his first movie for cinema: "Das Experiment" that won several awards in many festivals all around the world. That movie is an intense investigation of the aggressive behaviour in a simulated prison environment. His second movie, "Mein letzter Film", released in 2002, is a 90 minutes' monologue about a woman in her fifties who wants to re-start his life. In 2004 "Downfall" was released, his third movie, and till now his greatest success. "Downfall" is about the last 12 days of life of Adolf Hitler narrated out of the sight of her young secretary, Traudl Junge. That movie has stirred up much controversy because it portrays Hitler and the Nazis as human beings and not just as evil. Hirschbiegel has demonstrated in all his movies to be an specialist of dramas set in claustrophobic environments.