List of Famous people born in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Edin Terzić is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.

Wolfgang Beltracchi is a German art forger and artist who has admitted to forging hundreds of paintings in an international art scam netting millions of euros. Beltracchi, together with his wife Helene, sold forgeries of alleged works by famous artists, including Max Ernst, Heinrich Campendonk, Fernand Léger and Kees van Dongen. Though he was found guilty for forging 14 works of art that sold for a combined $45m (£28.6m), he claims to have faked "about 50" artists. The total estimated profits Beltracchi made from his forgeries surpasses $100m.

Julia Leischik is a German television presenter, television producer and editor-in-chief.

Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is a retired German football midfielder, currently coaching the German national team. She previously coached FCR 2001 Duisburg and FF USV Jena.

Mahmut Özdemir is a German politician for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2013, representing the Duisburg II district.

Michelle-Jasmin Müntefering is a German journalist and politician (SPD). She was a member of the party executive board in North Rhine-Westphalia from 2004 to 2014. She was elected to the German Bundestag and won her direct mandate for Herne – Bochum II in the 2013 and the 2017 federal election. In addition, since 14 March 2018 she has been serving as Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office under minister Heiko Maas in the fourth government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Peter Lohmeyer is a German actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1980.

Nuri Şahin is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Süper Lig club Antalyaspor. He is known for his passing ability.

Sarah Wiener is a German-Austrian entrepreneur, TV chef, and politician who was elected to the European Parliament in 2019.

Henriette Reker is a German lawyer and independent politician. She is known for her pro-immigration stance and for being the victim of an assassination attempt in 2015. A day after the attack, Reker was elected mayor of Cologne after gaining 52.66% of the votes. She is the first female mayor elected in Cologne's history. Reker was re-elected in 2020.