Graduate of the Faculty of Political Science at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin. In 2002, he completed post-graduate studies at the Higher School of Entrepreneurship and Administration in Lublin.

Krzysztof Hetman started his professional career in 1999 with the Open Pension Fund. From July 2002 to August 2005, he was Deputy Director and until May 2007 Director of the Regional Development Department of the Marshall's Office in Lublin. He was responsible, inter alia, for the implementation of EU programmes and spatial planning issues.

He was subsequently appointed Deputy Minister for Regional Development. He held this position from December 2007 to December 2010. He supervised matters related to the implementation in Poland of the Development of Eastern Poland Programme, EU Regional Programmes (ROP), and European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) and European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument programmes in 2007-2013.

Since June 2010, President of the Regional Board of the PSL in Lublin. On 1 December 2010, he was elected Marshal of the Lublin Voivodeship. On 30 June 2014, he became a Member of the European Parliament. He was a member of the Committee on Regional Development, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

In the elections to the Polish Sejm in October 2023, he was elected as an MP for the 10th term.