1997–2008: Early work and acting roles Offerman lived in Chicago in the mid-1990s, where he participated with theater companies such as
Steppenwolf,
Goodman, and Wisdom Bridge. At Steppenwolf, he also worked as a
fight choreographer and
master carpenter, having been trained in carpentry by his father. During this time, Offerman became acquainted with
Amy Poehler, who was heavily involved with the Chicago
improv comedy scene. Offerman can be seen on the big screen briefly as a construction worker in
City of Angels (1998) and later in other films such as
November (2004),
Cursed (2005),
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005),
Sin City (2005),
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) and He also appeared in the 2006 film
Wristcutters: A Love Story as a cop who attempts to arrest
Shannyn Sossamon's character, Mikal. In 2003, he married
Will & Grace actress
Megan Mullally. Offerman has also appeared on her talk show,
The Megan Mullally Show. At the same time, he began appearing on television as a plumber on
Will & Grace on its fourth season's
Thanksgiving episode, on
The King of Queens, in three episodes of
24, and in an episode of
The West Wing. Prior to
Parks and Recreation, his most prominent role was as a factory worker and
Benny Lopez's love interest Randy McGee on
George Lopez. He appeared twice on
Gilmore Girls, in 2003's "The Festival of Living Art" and 2005's "Always a Godmother, Never a God" and in the third-season episode of
Monk, "Mr. Monk and the Election" as a helper for the campaign of Natalie Teeger. In 2007, Offerman co-starred in the
Comedy Central series
American Body Shop.
2009–2015: Breakthrough with Parks and Recreation In 2009,
The Office producers
Michael Schur and
Greg Daniels offered Offerman a series regular role in their
NBC sitcom
Parks and Recreation for the character
Ron Swanson, the deadpan, government-hating,
libertarian head of a city parks department and boss of
Amy Poehler's character
Leslie Knope. The role weaves antagonism and political philosophy with humanity, while the intense libertarian philosophy the character lives out is often played off against the equally intense social liberalism and "do-gooder" mentality of Poehler's character. Offerman said that supporting parts such as that of
Parks and Recreation are his ideal roles, and that he draws particular inspiration from Reverend
Jim Ignatowski, the character played by
Christopher Lloyd in the sitcom
Taxi. In the same year, Offerman portrayed
Johnny Cool in the "Boston" episode of
Derek Waters'
Drunk History on
Comedy Central. In 2014, he portrayed a lovesick German talk show host in
The Decemberists' video,
Make You Better. The same year, he also appeared in a short film
The Gunfighter directed by
Eric Kissack. Offerman played the role of the narrator of the film where the actors of the film break the fourth wall and are able to hear the narrator. 2012 saw him in two film roles, as
21 Jump Street's Deputy Chief Hardy and in
Casa de Mi Padre as DEA Agent Parker. He reprised his role as Deputy Chief Hardy in
22 Jump Street two years later. Additionally, he starred in and produced an independent film,
Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012), shot in Austin, Texas. He appeared in the 2013 comedy
The Kings of Summer (2013), and ''
We're the Millers, which starred Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston, and voiced MetalBeard in The Lego Movie''. Offerman conceived of and starred in punk band
FIDLAR's 2013 video for their song "Cocaine". Offerman also played an alcoholic college guidance counselor in
Believe Me. In 2014, Offerman and Mullally starred alongside each other in the off-Broadway one-act play,
Annapurna. The two play an estranged couple that reunites one last time. In 2015, Offerman starred as Ignatius J. Reilly in a theatrical adaptation of
A Confederacy of Dunces with the Huntington Theatre Company. Offerman played the
recurring role Karl Weathers in the second season of
Fargo (2015). Offerman voiced Grandpa Mike alongside wife Megan Mullally who voiced Grandma Linda in
Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015).
2016–present: Career expansion He portrayed the first establisher of McDonald's,
Dick McDonald, in
The Founder (2016). In 2017, Offerman launched his
Full Bush Tour which consisted of 28 shows across the U.S. and Canada. His
All Rise Tour kicked off on July 20, 2019, in Thackerville and continued through the rest of 2019, hitting major cities: Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, and Atlanta. Offerman also starred in alternative rock band
They Might Be Giants' 2018 video for their song "The Greatest". In 2023, Offerman appeared in the
third episode of the
HBO series
The Last of Us as
Bill. His performance, along with that of his co-star
Murray Bartlett, was critically acclaimed, with some critics naming it a career-best performance, and Dais Johnston of
Inverse labelled them as "Emmy-worthy". He went on to win
Guest Actor in a Drama Series at the 2023
Creative Arts Emmy Awards. In 2025, Offerman starred with Jacob Tremblay and Dennis Quaid in the crime thriller
Sovereign. Offerman was the Show Announcer for the
97th Academy Awards. He appeared in the 2025 film
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. ==Other ventures==