He was born in Athens on May 23, 1951. He is married to Georgia Kritikos; they have a daughter, Lena, 23, and a son, Kostas, 15.

He holds degrees in Economics and Business Administration from Amherst College and Harvard University (MBA).

From 1977 to 1993 he was a member of the Hellenic Parliament representing the Prefecture of Messinia with Nea Demokratia and served as Minister of Finance and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

In 1993 he was elected member of the Hellenic Parliament for the Prefecture of Messinia with the political party "Political Spring" (Politiki Anixi), which he founded and led till 2004.

In 2004 he was elected member of the European Parliament with Nea Demokratia. He was member of the Budget Committee, the Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs, the Committee for the Lisbon Treaty and the Committee of the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation.

In 2007 Mr. Samaras was elected member of the Hellenic Parliament for the Prefecture of Messinia with Nea Demokratia and was reelected in 2009. He was a member of the Standing Committee for Economic Affairs and the Committee for European Affairs of the Hellenic Parliament until January 2009, when he was appointed Minister of Culture. Under this capacity, he inaugurated the new Acropolis Museum in June 2009.

In November 2009 he was elected the 7th President of Nea Demokratia by the party members.

In 2011, Antonis Samaras participates in a coalition government with Loukas Papadimos as Prime Minister.

In 2012,Nea Demokratia wins the May 6th and June 17th elections. On June 20th, 2012, he is appointed Prime Minister of Greece and forms a three party coalition government.

He is fluent in English, French and Italian.