diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b94b4e96..4e89668c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 - Support floating tags for product images via the new `spec.image.stackableVersionPolicy` field
   ([#790]).
 - Add `/ready` endpoint to the operator Deployment, which reports the CRD installation status ([#795]).
+- Nodes now have a default affinity to the OPA Pods when the role mapping from OPA is configured ([#796]).
 
 ### Changed
 
@@ -67,6 +68,7 @@
 [#790]: https://github.com/stackabletech/superset-operator/pull/790
 [#791]: https://github.com/stackabletech/superset-operator/pull/791
 [#795]: https://github.com/stackabletech/superset-operator/pull/795
+[#796]: https://github.com/stackabletech/superset-operator/pull/796
 
 ## [26.7.0] - 2026-07-21
 
diff --git a/docs/modules/superset/pages/usage-guide/operations/pod-placement.adoc b/docs/modules/superset/pages/usage-guide/operations/pod-placement.adoc
index 83b6120a..bd606026 100644
--- a/docs/modules/superset/pages/usage-guide/operations/pod-placement.adoc
+++ b/docs/modules/superset/pages/usage-guide/operations/pod-placement.adoc
@@ -5,3 +5,5 @@ You can configure the Pod placement of the Superset pods as described in xref:co
 The default affinities created by the operator are:
 
 1. Distribute all the Superset Pods (weight 70)
+2. If the role mapping from OPA is configured: co-locate the Superset nodes with the OPA Pods (weight 50).
+   Workers and beat do not get this affinity.
diff --git a/rust/operator-binary/src/controller/validate.rs b/rust/operator-binary/src/controller/validate.rs
index b21ea529..b3fc2e9c 100644
--- a/rust/operator-binary/src/controller/validate.rs
+++ b/rust/operator-binary/src/controller/validate.rs
@@ -240,7 +240,11 @@ fn validate_role_groups(
     let Some(resolved_role) = superset.get_role(role) else {
         return Ok(BTreeMap::new());
     };
-    let default_config = SupersetConfig::default_config(&superset.name_any(), role);
+    let default_config = SupersetConfig::default_config(
+        &superset.name_any(),
+        role,
+        superset.get_opa_config().map(|opa_config| &opa_config.opa),
+    );
 
     resolved_role
         .role_groups
diff --git a/rust/operator-binary/src/crd/affinity.rs b/rust/operator-binary/src/crd/affinity.rs
index 146f725f..08250e2c 100644
--- a/rust/operator-binary/src/crd/affinity.rs
+++ b/rust/operator-binary/src/crd/affinity.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,35 @@
 use stackable_operator::{
-    commons::affinity::{StackableAffinityFragment, affinity_between_role_pods},
-    k8s_openapi::api::core::v1::PodAntiAffinity,
+    commons::{
+        affinity::{StackableAffinityFragment, affinity_between_role_pods},
+        opa::OpaConfig,
+    },
+    k8s_openapi::api::core::v1::{PodAffinity, PodAntiAffinity},
 };
 
 use crate::crd::{APP_NAME, SupersetRole};
 
-pub fn get_affinity(cluster_name: &str, role: &SupersetRole) -> StackableAffinityFragment {
+/// `opa_config` is only passed for roles that send requests to OPA.
+pub fn get_affinity(
+    cluster_name: &str,
+    role: &SupersetRole,
+    opa_config: Option<&OpaConfig>,
+) -> StackableAffinityFragment {
+    // With the role mapping from OPA configured, the role sends its requests to OPA, so prefer to
+    // place it next to the OPA Pods.
+    let pod_affinity = opa_config.map(|opa_config| PodAffinity {
+        preferred_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution: Some(vec![
+            affinity_between_role_pods(
+                "opa",
+                &opa_config.config_map_name, // The discovery cm has the same name as the OpaCluster itself
+                "server",
+                50,
+            ),
+        ]),
+        required_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution: None,
+    });
+
     StackableAffinityFragment {
-        pod_affinity: None,
+        pod_affinity,
         pod_anti_affinity: Some(PodAntiAffinity {
             preferred_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution: Some(vec![
                 affinity_between_role_pods(APP_NAME, cluster_name, &role.to_string(), 70),
@@ -23,11 +45,14 @@ pub fn get_affinity(cluster_name: &str, role: &SupersetRole) -> StackableAffinit
 mod tests {
     use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 
+    use rstest::rstest;
     use stackable_operator::{
         commons::affinity::StackableAffinity,
         config::fragment,
         k8s_openapi::{
-            api::core::v1::{PodAffinityTerm, PodAntiAffinity, WeightedPodAffinityTerm},
+            api::core::v1::{
+                PodAffinity, PodAffinityTerm, PodAntiAffinity, WeightedPodAffinityTerm,
+            },
             apimachinery::pkg::apis::meta::v1::LabelSelector,
         },
         kube::ResourceExt,
@@ -37,8 +62,11 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
     use crate::crd::v1alpha1;
 
-    #[test]
-    fn test_affinity_defaults() {
+    #[rstest]
+    #[case(SupersetRole::Node)]
+    #[case(SupersetRole::Worker)]
+    #[case(SupersetRole::Beat)]
+    fn test_affinity_defaults(#[case] role: SupersetRole) {
         let input = r#"
         apiVersion: superset.stackable.tech/v1alpha1
         kind: SupersetCluster
@@ -54,6 +82,10 @@ mod tests {
                 host: superset-postgresql
                 database: superset
                 credentialsSecretName: superset-postgresql-credentials
+            authorization:
+              roleMappingFromOpa:
+                configMapName: simple-opa
+                package: superset
           nodes:
             roleGroups:
               default:
@@ -63,15 +95,50 @@ mod tests {
             yaml_from_str_singleton_map(input).expect("illegal test input");
         // The role group carries no resource/affinity overrides, so the merged config is just the
         // validated default config.
-        let merged_config: v1alpha1::SupersetConfig = fragment::validate(
-            v1alpha1::SupersetConfig::default_config(&superset.name_any(), &SupersetRole::Node),
-        )
-        .expect("default config should validate");
+        let merged_config: v1alpha1::SupersetConfig =
+            fragment::validate(v1alpha1::SupersetConfig::default_config(
+                &superset.name_any(),
+                &role,
+                superset.get_opa_config().map(|opa_config| &opa_config.opa),
+            ))
+            .expect("default config should validate");
 
         assert_eq!(
             merged_config.affinity,
             StackableAffinity {
-                pod_affinity: None,
+                pod_affinity: match role {
+                    // Only the web server (node) is known to request the role mapping from OPA.
+                    SupersetRole::Node => Some(PodAffinity {
+                        preferred_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution: Some(vec![
+                            WeightedPodAffinityTerm {
+                                pod_affinity_term: PodAffinityTerm {
+                                    label_selector: Some(LabelSelector {
+                                        match_expressions: None,
+                                        match_labels: Some(BTreeMap::from([
+                                            (
+                                                "app.kubernetes.io/name".to_string(),
+                                                "opa".to_string()
+                                            ),
+                                            (
+                                                "app.kubernetes.io/instance".to_string(),
+                                                "simple-opa".to_string(),
+                                            ),
+                                            (
+                                                "app.kubernetes.io/component".to_string(),
+                                                "server".to_string(),
+                                            ),
+                                        ])),
+                                    }),
+                                    topology_key: "kubernetes.io/hostname".to_string(),
+                                    ..PodAffinityTerm::default()
+                                },
+                                weight: 50,
+                            }
+                        ]),
+                        required_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution: None,
+                    }),
+                    SupersetRole::Worker | SupersetRole::Beat => None,
+                },
                 pod_anti_affinity: Some(PodAntiAffinity {
                     preferred_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution: Some(vec![
                         WeightedPodAffinityTerm {
@@ -89,7 +156,7 @@ mod tests {
                                         ),
                                         (
                                             "app.kubernetes.io/component".to_string(),
-                                            "node".to_string(),
+                                            role.to_string(),
                                         )
                                     ]))
                                 }),
diff --git a/rust/operator-binary/src/crd/mod.rs b/rust/operator-binary/src/crd/mod.rs
index e029c466..7043e176 100644
--- a/rust/operator-binary/src/crd/mod.rs
+++ b/rust/operator-binary/src/crd/mod.rs
@@ -510,6 +510,7 @@ impl v1alpha1::SupersetConfig {
     pub(crate) fn default_config(
         cluster_name: &str,
         role: &SupersetRole,
+        opa_config: Option<&OpaConfig>,
     ) -> v1alpha1::SupersetConfigFragment {
         match role {
             SupersetRole::Node => v1alpha1::SupersetConfigFragment {
@@ -525,7 +526,7 @@ impl v1alpha1::SupersetConfig {
                     storage: v1alpha1::SupersetStorageConfigFragment {},
                 },
                 logging: product_logging::spec::default_logging(),
-                affinity: affinity::get_affinity(cluster_name, role),
+                affinity: affinity::get_affinity(cluster_name, role, opa_config),
                 graceful_shutdown_timeout: Some(DEFAULT_NODE_GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT),
                 row_limit: None,
                 webserver_timeout: None,
@@ -543,7 +544,9 @@ impl v1alpha1::SupersetConfig {
                     storage: v1alpha1::SupersetStorageConfigFragment {},
                 },
                 logging: product_logging::spec::default_logging(),
-                affinity: affinity::get_affinity(cluster_name, role),
+                // Only the web server (node) is known to request the role mapping from OPA, so
+                // workers and beat get no affinity to the OPA Pods.
+                affinity: affinity::get_affinity(cluster_name, role, None),
                 graceful_shutdown_timeout: Some(DEFAULT_NODE_GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT),
                 row_limit: None,
                 webserver_timeout: None,
@@ -561,7 +564,9 @@ impl v1alpha1::SupersetConfig {
                     storage: v1alpha1::SupersetStorageConfigFragment {},
                 },
                 logging: product_logging::spec::default_logging(),
-                affinity: affinity::get_affinity(cluster_name, role),
+                // Only the web server (node) is known to request the role mapping from OPA, so
+                // workers and beat get no affinity to the OPA Pods.
+                affinity: affinity::get_affinity(cluster_name, role, None),
                 graceful_shutdown_timeout: Some(DEFAULT_NODE_GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT),
                 row_limit: None,
                 webserver_timeout: None,