An apparatus for optically detecting rotational position information of a rotating object, includes a light source, a detector which is located at a position to receive scattered light from the rotating object when the rotating object is irradiated with a light beam from the light source, and outputs a frequency signal based on the scattered light, a signal processing system for detecting rotational position information by performing signal processing for the frequency signal from the detector, and a rotation control system for controlling rotation of the rotating object. The rotation control system preliminarily rotates the rotating object in detecting the rotational position information.