diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index cd65ed84..ae26ee28 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3100,6 +3100,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "time",
  "tokio",
  "tracing",
+ "tracing-appender",
  "tracing-opentelemetry",
  "tracing-subscriber",
  "url",
@@ -3329,10 +3330,12 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5dfd88e563464686c916c7e46e623e520ddc6d79fa6641390f2e3fa86e83e885"
 dependencies = [
  "deranged",
+ "itoa",
  "num-conv",
  "powerfmt",
  "serde",
  "time-core",
+ "time-macros",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -3341,6 +3344,16 @@ version = "0.1.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "ef927ca75afb808a4d64dd374f00a2adf8d0fcff8e7b184af886c3c87ec4a3f3"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "time-macros"
+version = "0.2.18"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3f252a68540fde3a3877aeea552b832b40ab9a69e318efd078774a01ddee1ccf"
+dependencies = [
+ "num-conv",
+ "time-core",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tinystr"
 version = "0.7.6"
@@ -3555,6 +3568,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing-core",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tracing-appender"
+version = "0.2.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3566e8ce28cc0a3fe42519fc80e6b4c943cc4c8cef275620eb8dac2d3d4e06cf"
+dependencies = [
+ "crossbeam-channel",
+ "thiserror",
+ "time",
+ "tracing-subscriber",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tracing-attributes"
 version = "0.1.27"
diff --git a/crates/stackable-operator/Cargo.toml b/crates/stackable-operator/Cargo.toml
index 206be686..cfa45a18 100644
--- a/crates/stackable-operator/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/stackable-operator/Cargo.toml
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ tracing-opentelemetry.workspace = true
 tracing-subscriber.workspace = true
 tracing.workspace = true
 url.workspace = true
+tracing-appender = "0.2.3"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 rstest.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/stackable-operator/src/logging/mod.rs b/crates/stackable-operator/src/logging/mod.rs
index 00296b8f..fba1c5d2 100644
--- a/crates/stackable-operator/src/logging/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/stackable-operator/src/logging/mod.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,19 @@
+use std::{
+    io::{sink, Sink},
+    path::PathBuf,
+};
+
 use tracing;
-use tracing_subscriber::{layer::SubscriberExt, util::SubscriberInitExt, EnvFilter, Registry};
+use tracing_appender::rolling::RollingFileAppender;
+use tracing_subscriber::{
+    fmt::{
+        writer::{EitherWriter, MakeWriterExt as _},
+        MakeWriter,
+    },
+    layer::SubscriberExt,
+    util::SubscriberInitExt,
+    EnvFilter, Registry,
+};
 
 pub mod controller;
 mod k8s_events;
@@ -22,6 +36,9 @@ impl Default for TracingTarget {
 /// We force users to provide a variable name so it can be different per product.
 /// We encourage it to be the product name plus `_LOG`, e.g. `FOOBAR_OPERATOR_LOG`.
 /// If no environment variable is provided, the maximum log level is set to INFO.
+///
+/// Log output can be copied to a file by setting `{env}_DIRECTORY` (e.g. `FOOBAR_OPERATOR_DIRECTORY`)
+/// to a directory path. This file will be rotated regularly.
 pub fn initialize_logging(env: &str, app_name: &str, tracing_target: TracingTarget) {
     let filter = match EnvFilter::try_from_env(env) {
         Ok(env_filter) => env_filter,
@@ -29,7 +46,17 @@ pub fn initialize_logging(env: &str, app_name: &str, tracing_target: TracingTarg
             .expect("Failed to initialize default tracing level to INFO"),
     };
 
-    let fmt = tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer();
+    let file_appender_directory = std::env::var_os(format!("{env}_DIRECTORY")).map(PathBuf::from);
+    let file_appender =
+        OptionalMakeWriter::from(file_appender_directory.as_deref().map(|log_dir| {
+            RollingFileAppender::builder()
+                .filename_suffix(format!("{app_name}.log"))
+                .max_log_files(6)
+                .build(log_dir)
+                .expect("failed to initialize rolling file appender")
+        }));
+
+    let fmt = tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer().with_writer(std::io::stdout.and(file_appender));
     let registry = Registry::default().with(filter).with(fmt);
 
     match tracing_target {
@@ -45,6 +72,50 @@ pub fn initialize_logging(env: &str, app_name: &str, tracing_target: TracingTarg
             registry.with(opentelemetry).init();
         }
     }
+
+    // need to delay logging until after tracing is initialized
+    match file_appender_directory {
+        Some(dir) => tracing::info!(log.file.directory = %dir.display(), "file logging enabled"),
+        None => tracing::debug!("file logging disabled, because no log directory set"),
+    }
+}
+
+/// Like [`EitherWriter`] but implements [`MakeWriter`] instead of [`std::io::Write`].
+/// For selecting writers depending on dynamic configuration.
+enum EitherMakeWriter<A, B> {
+    A(A),
+    B(B),
+}
+impl<'a, A, B> MakeWriter<'a> for EitherMakeWriter<A, B>
+where
+    A: MakeWriter<'a>,
+    B: MakeWriter<'a>,
+{
+    type Writer = EitherWriter<A::Writer, B::Writer>;
+
+    fn make_writer(&'a self) -> Self::Writer {
+        match self {
+            Self::A(a) => EitherWriter::A(a.make_writer()),
+            Self::B(b) => EitherWriter::B(b.make_writer()),
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn make_writer_for(&'a self, meta: &tracing::Metadata<'_>) -> Self::Writer {
+        match self {
+            Self::A(a) => EitherWriter::A(a.make_writer_for(meta)),
+            Self::B(b) => EitherWriter::B(b.make_writer_for(meta)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+type OptionalMakeWriter<T> = EitherMakeWriter<T, fn() -> Sink>;
+impl<T> From<Option<T>> for OptionalMakeWriter<T> {
+    fn from(value: Option<T>) -> Self {
+        match value {
+            Some(t) => Self::A(t),
+            None => Self::B(sink),
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]