 Kalinowski was deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture from April to October 1997, in the cabinet of Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.He was returned to both these positions again from October 2001 to March 2003, in the cabinet of Leszek Miller.Kalinowski succeeded Waldemar Pawlak as the leader of the PSL party in November 1997 and he held this position to March 2004.