The 54-year-old, a close ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will replace Leonid Tyagachyov, who resigned on March 3 after President Dmitry Medvedev ordered top sports officials to quit or be fired following the country's worst-ever performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Zhukov has been in charge of preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and also headed the Russian Chess Federation between 2003 and 2009.
"Being elected is a big honour but also a big responsibility," Zhukov said. "My first task is to create a team of like-minded people to lead the Russian Olympic movement as we have to improve a lot of things here."
It is understood Zhukov plans to implement drastic changes and appoint an executive director at the ROC.
