Patil completed his M.A. Economics and LL.B. degree from Pune and Mumbai University respectively. He was the officer of Indian Administrative Services of 1979 batch. Thereafter he served as the collector of Beed district and Pune district. He has been deputy CEO of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).[2]
He was elected as member of the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha of India, from 1999 to 2009 representing the Karad constituency from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). In 2013, he was appointed the Governor of Sikkim; the position that he continued till August 2018.[3] He was elected as Member of Parliament for the third time by defeating former Member of Parliament Udayanraje Bhosale by over 87,000 votes in October 2019 bypolls.[4]