diff --git a/charts/catalog/templates/apiserver-deployment.yaml b/charts/catalog/templates/apiserver-deployment.yaml
index 3d7ca00184c..629c4416bd2 100644
--- a/charts/catalog/templates/apiserver-deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/catalog/templates/apiserver-deployment.yaml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ spec:
         release: "{{ .Release.Name }}"
         heritage: "{{ .Release.Service }}"
     spec:
+      serviceAccountName: "{{ .Values.apiserver.serviceAccount }}"
       containers:
       - name: apiserver
         image: {{ .Values.apiserver.image }}
diff --git a/charts/catalog/templates/controller-manager-deployment.yaml b/charts/catalog/templates/controller-manager-deployment.yaml
index 56a660c11ea..40a54a1603b 100644
--- a/charts/catalog/templates/controller-manager-deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/catalog/templates/controller-manager-deployment.yaml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ spec:
         release: "{{ .Release.Name }}"
         heritage: "{{ .Release.Service }}"
     spec:
+      serviceAccountName: "{{ .Values.controllerManager.serviceAccount }}"
       containers:
       - name: controller-manager
         image: {{ .Values.controllerManager.image }}
diff --git a/charts/catalog/templates/rbac.yaml b/charts/catalog/templates/rbac.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ecafb16b01d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/catalog/templates/rbac.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+{{- if .Capabilities.APIVersions.Has "rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1" }}
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: List
+items:
+
+### API Server ###
+  
+# TODO: if this is just for namespace lifecycle admission, move to a generic role
+# the role for the apiserver 
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
+  kind: ClusterRole
+  metadata:
+    name: "servicecatalog.k8s.io:apiserver"
+  # this rule defined on the role for specifically the
+  # namespace-lifecycle admission-controller
+  rules:
+  - apiGroups: [""]
+    resources: ["namespaces"]
+    verbs:     ["get", "list", "watch"]
+# API-server service-account gets its own role
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
+  kind: ClusterRoleBinding
+  metadata:
+    name: "servicecatalog.k8s.io:apiserver"
+  roleRef:
+    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+    kind: ClusterRole
+    name: "servicecatalog.k8s.io:apiserver"
+  subjects:
+  - apiGroup: ""
+    kind: ServiceAccount
+    name: "{{ .Values.apiserver.serviceAccount }}"
+    namespace: "{{ .Release.Namespace }}"
+# apiserver gets the auth-delegator role to delegate auth decisions to
+# the core apiserver
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
+  kind: ClusterRoleBinding
+  metadata:
+    name: "servicecatalog.k8s.io:apiserver-auth-delegator"
+  roleRef:
+    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+    kind: ClusterRole
+    name: system:auth-delegator
+  subjects:
+  - apiGroup: ""
+    kind: ServiceAccount
+    name: "{{ .Values.apiserver.serviceAccount }}"
+    namespace: "{{ .Release.Namespace }}"
+# apiserver gets the ability to read authentication. This allows it to
+# read the specific configmap that has the requestheader-* entries to
+# enable api aggregation
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
+  kind: RoleBinding
+  metadata:
+    name: "servicecatalog.k8s.io:apiserver-authentication-reader"
+    namespace: kube-system
+  roleRef:
+    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+    kind: Role
+    name: extension-apiserver-authentication-reader
+  subjects:
+  - apiGroup: ""
+    kind: ServiceAccount
+    name: "{{ .Values.apiserver.serviceAccount }}"
+    namespace: "{{ .Release.Namespace }}"
+
+### Controller-Manager ###
+
+# controller-manager role defines what access the service-catalog
+# controller-manager needs to manage the resources of the
+# service-catalog
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
+  kind: ClusterRole
+  metadata:
+    name: "servicecatalog.k8s.io:controller-manager"
+  rules:
+  - apiGroups: [""]
+    resources: ["events"]
+    verbs:     ["create","patch","update"]
+  # TODO: do not grant global access, limit to particular secrets referenced from bindings
+  - apiGroups: [""]
+    resources: ["secrets"]
+    verbs:     ["get","create","delete"]
+  - apiGroups: [""]
+    resources: ["namespaces"]
+    verbs:     ["get","list","watch"]
+  # access to our service-catalog types
+  - apiGroups: ["servicecatalog.k8s.io"]
+    resources: ["serviceclasses"]
+    verbs:     ["get","list","watch","create","patch","update","delete"]
+  - apiGroups: ["servicecatalog.k8s.io"]
+    resources: ["bindings","brokers","instances"]
+    verbs:     ["get","list","watch"]
+  - apiGroups: ["servicecatalog.k8s.io"]
+    resources: ["bindings/status","brokers/status","instances/status"]
+    verbs:     ["update"]
+# give the controller-manager service account access to whats defined in its role.
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
+  kind: ClusterRoleBinding
+  metadata:
+    name: "servicecatalog.k8s.io:controller-manager"
+  roleRef:
+    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+    kind: ClusterRole
+    name: "servicecatalog.k8s.io:controller-manager"
+  subjects:
+  - apiGroup: ""
+    kind: ServiceAccount
+    name: "{{ .Values.controllerManager.serviceAccount }}"
+    namespace: "{{ .Release.Namespace }}"
+
+# This gives create/update access to an endpoint in kube-system for leader election
+# TODO: use an object other than endpoints, and in the same namespace as the service catalog, not in kube-system
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
+  kind: Role
+  metadata:
+    name: "servicecatalog.k8s.io::leader-locking-controller-manager"
+    namespace: kube-system
+  rules:
+  - apiGroups: [""]
+    resources: ["endpoints"]
+    verbs:     ["create"]
+  - apiGroups:     [""]
+    resources:     ["endpoints"]
+    resourceNames: ["service-catalog-controller-manager"]
+    verbs:         ["get","update"]
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
+  kind: RoleBinding
+  metadata:
+    name: service-catalog-controller-manager
+    namespace: kube-system
+  roleRef:
+    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+    kind: Role
+    name: service-catalog-controller-manager
+  subjects:
+  - apiGroup: ""
+    kind: ServiceAccount
+    name: "{{ .Values.controllerManager.serviceAccount }}"
+    namespace: "{{ .Release.Namespace }}"
+{{ end }}
diff --git a/charts/catalog/templates/serviceaccounts.yaml b/charts/catalog/templates/serviceaccounts.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6686f1334ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/catalog/templates/serviceaccounts.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: List
+items:
+  # The SA for the apiserver
+  - apiVersion: v1
+    kind: ServiceAccount
+    metadata:
+      name: "{{ .Values.apiserver.serviceAccount }}"
+  # The SA for the controller-manager
+  - apiVersion: v1
+    kind: ServiceAccount
+    metadata:
+      name: "{{ .Values.controllerManager.serviceAccount }}"
diff --git a/charts/catalog/values.yaml b/charts/catalog/values.yaml
index dc9a5ac8278..6539a8fdabf 100644
--- a/charts/catalog/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/catalog/values.yaml
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ apiserver:
     activated: false
     # If specified, audit log goes to specified path.
     logPath: "/tmp/service-catalog-apiserver-audit.log"
+  serviceAccount: service-catalog-apiserver
 controllerManager:
   # controller-manager image to use
   image: quay.io/kubernetes-service-catalog/controller-manager:v0.0.13
@@ -97,4 +98,5 @@ controllerManager:
   leaderElection:
     # Whether the controller has option to set leader election namespace.
     activated: false
+  serviceAccount: service-catalog-controller-manager
 useAggregator: false
diff --git a/contrib/jenkins/init_cluster.sh b/contrib/jenkins/init_cluster.sh
index 5d0e4c5fbd7..00fdbd7eeb9 100755
--- a/contrib/jenkins/init_cluster.sh
+++ b/contrib/jenkins/init_cluster.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 set -o nounset
 set -o errexit
 
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.." && pwd)"
+
 while [[ $# -ne 0 ]]; do
   case "$1" in
     --project)     PROJECT="$2"; shift ;;
@@ -54,5 +56,12 @@ echo "Using cluster ${CLUSTERNAME}."
 gcloud container clusters get-credentials "${CLUSTERNAME}" --project="${PROJECT}" --zone="${ZONE}" \
   || { echo 'Cannot get credentials for cluster.'; exit 1; }
 
+# On GKE you need to give your user proper permissions in order to create new
+# cluster roles. Needed for RBAC setup.
+ACCOUNT_NAME="$(gcloud info | grep Account | sed 's/.*\[\(.*\)\]/\1/')"
+kubectl create clusterrolebinding jenkins-cluster-admin-binding \
+    --clusterrole=cluster-admin --user="${ACCOUNT_NAME}" \
+  || { echo 'Cannot not create cluster-admin role for service account.'; exit 1; }
+
 helm init \
   || { echo 'Cannot initialize Helm.'; exit 1; }