diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 4cf6cf2ad9d7..57a1d96fa6e9 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -378,6 +378,7 @@ project(':iceberg-core') {
     implementation libs.jackson.core
     implementation libs.jackson.databind
     implementation libs.caffeine
+    implementation libs.opentelemetry.httpclient
     implementation libs.roaringbitmap
     compileOnly(libs.hadoop3.client) {
       exclude group: 'org.apache.avro', module: 'avro'
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/HTTPClient.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/HTTPClient.java
index 86eceba21c95..134b0e6ce717 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/HTTPClient.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/HTTPClient.java
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectReader;
+import io.opentelemetry.api.OpenTelemetry;
+import io.opentelemetry.instrumentation.apachehttpclient.v5_2.ApacheHttpClientTelemetry;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
 import java.net.URI;
@@ -113,13 +115,17 @@ private HTTPClient(
       ObjectMapper objectMapper,
       Map<String, String> properties,
       HttpClientConnectionManager connectionManager,
-      AuthSession session) {
+      AuthSession session,
+      OpenTelemetry openTelemetry) {
     this.baseUri = baseUri;
     this.baseHeaders = baseHeaders;
     this.mapper = objectMapper;
     this.authSession = session;
 
-    HttpClientBuilder clientBuilder = HttpClients.custom();
+    HttpClientBuilder clientBuilder =
+        openTelemetry != null
+            ? ApacheHttpClientTelemetry.builder(openTelemetry).build().newHttpClientBuilder()
+            : HttpClients.custom();
 
     clientBuilder.setConnectionManager(connectionManager);
 
@@ -493,6 +499,7 @@ public static class Builder {
     private HttpHost proxy;
     private CredentialsProvider proxyCredentialsProvider;
     private AuthSession authSession;
+    private OpenTelemetry telemetry;
 
     private Builder(Map<String, String> properties) {
       this.properties = properties;
@@ -547,6 +554,12 @@ public Builder withAuthSession(AuthSession session) {
       return this;
     }
 
+    public Builder withOpenTelemetry(OpenTelemetry openTelemetry) {
+      Preconditions.checkNotNull(openTelemetry, "Invalid openTelemetry for http client: null");
+      this.telemetry = openTelemetry;
+      return this;
+    }
+
     public HTTPClient build() {
       withHeader(CLIENT_VERSION_HEADER, IcebergBuild.fullVersion());
       withHeader(CLIENT_GIT_COMMIT_SHORT_HEADER, IcebergBuild.gitCommitShortId());
@@ -590,7 +603,8 @@ public HTTPClient build() {
           mapper,
           properties,
           configureConnectionManager(properties),
-          authSession);
+          authSession,
+          telemetry);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/gradle/libs.versions.toml b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
index 8395a3d6a26c..612ab5d8e6e2 100644
--- a/gradle/libs.versions.toml
+++ b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ mockserver = "5.15.0"
 nessie = "0.107.4"
 netty-buffer = "4.2.10.Final"
 object-client-bundle = "3.3.2"
+opentelemetry-httpclient = "2.23.0-alpha"
 orc = "1.9.8"
 parquet = "1.17.0"
 roaringbitmap = "1.6.13"
@@ -166,6 +167,7 @@ microprofile-openapi-api = { module = "org.eclipse.microprofile.openapi:micropro
 nessie-client = { module = "org.projectnessie.nessie:nessie-client", version.ref = "nessie" }
 netty-buffer = { module = "io.netty:netty-buffer", version.ref = "netty-buffer" }
 object-client-bundle = { module = "com.emc.ecs:object-client-bundle", version.ref = "object-client-bundle" }
+opentelemetry-httpclient = { module = "io.opentelemetry.instrumentation:opentelemetry-apache-httpclient-5.2", version.ref = "opentelemetry-httpclient" }
 orc-core = { module = "org.apache.orc:orc-core", version.ref = "orc" }
 parquet-avro = { module = "org.apache.parquet:parquet-avro", version.ref = "parquet" }
 parquet-column = { module = "org.apache.parquet:parquet-column", version.ref = "parquet" }