Werner studied law at the University of Vienna, PhD as Dr. jur. (1978) and gained an additional MBA at INSEAD (Fontainebleau). He began his career in 1979 at the Girozentrale in Vienna as a consultant for domestic and foreign issuances. From 1980 to 1983 he was employed at DIE ERSTE österreichische Spar-Casse Bank and from 1983 to 1985 at the Österreichische Länderbank AG as Manager, responsible for international financing. In 1986, he was executive consultant for bank strategy, first at Roland Berger & Partner in Munich, and then from 1989 at Ernst & Young International. In 1995, he founded his own management consultancy and managed a Twinning Project from 1997 to 1998, funded by the EBRD (European Bank of Reconstruction and Development). The project enabled the setting up of a bank in Almaty/Kazakhstan. Werner is Associate Partner at METIS Management Consulting GmbH since 2006