Born in Tinos, Kontogeorgis studied economics at the Supreme School of Economics and Business in Athens, and took a masters degree in the United States. He joined the Greek civil service, rising to become General Director of the Ministry of Commerce, but resigned from that post when the Greek junta took power after a coup in 1967. When civilian rule was restored in 1974, the Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis appointed Kontogeorgis as Deputy Minister of Coordination and Planning.
