Royal Profile: Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven

Pieter van Vollenhoven was born 30 April 1939 as the second son of Pieter van Vollenhoven and Jacoba  Gijsbertha van Vollenhoven-Stuyling de Lange {Source}. He has one older brother {Source}:

• Willem Jan van Vollenhoven (d. 2006)

He was educated in The Netherlands. He attended his primary education, before being enrolled in the
 Montessori Lyceum, passing his secondary school leaving examinations  in 1959{Source}. He enrolled in Leiden University, graduating with a Dutch law degree in 1965 {Source}.

During his university years, he met a young  Princess Margriet of the Netherlands {Source}. Their engagement was announced on 10 March 1965{Source}. They married on 10 January 1967 and then took up residence in the east wing of Het Loo Palace{Source}. In 1975 they moved to their present home, Het Loo House{Source}. Together, they have four sons, four daughters-in-law, and eleven grandchildren{Source}:

1. Prince Maurits van Oranje-Nassau (1968)
1. Princess Marilène van Oranje-Nassau (1970, m. 1998)
1. Anastasia (Anna) Margriet Joséphine van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven (2001)
2. Lucas Maurits Pieter Henri van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven (2002)
3. Felicia Juliana Benedicte Barbara van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven ( 2005)
2. Prince Bernhard van Oranje-Nassau (1969)
1. Princess Annette van Oranje-Nassau (1972, m. 2000)
1. Isabella Lily Juliana van Vollenhoven (2002)
2. Samuel Bernhard Louis van Vollenhoven (2004)
3. Benjamin Pieter Floris van Vollenhoven (2008)
3. Prince Pieter-Christiaan van Oranje-Nassau (1972)
1. Princess Anita van Oranje-Nassau (1969, m. 2005)
1. Emma Francisca Catharina van Vollenhoven (2006)
2. Pieter Anton Maurits Erik van Vollenhoven (2008)
4. Prince Floris van Oranje-Nassau (1975)
1. Princess Aimée van Oranje-Nassau (1977, m. 2005)
2. Magali Margriet Eleonoor van Vollenhoven (2007)
3. Eliane Sophia Carolina van Vollenhoven (2009)
4. Willem Jan Johannes Pieter Floris van Vollenhoven (2013)

He served in the military starting in the spring of 1966, serving in the legal department of the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Netherlands Air Force{Source}. A year later, he received  Air Force Pilot training and obtained his Military Pilot's Licence{Source}. In 1968, he was commissioned as reserve officer (pilot) in 300 Squadron at Deelen airbase{Source}.. He is a colonel in the Air Force Reserve and Aide-de-Camp Extraordinary{Source}.

He also has held various positions within the field of safety, both in The Netherlands and abroad{Source}.   In 1975, he was invited to act as advisor on road safety to the Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management{Source}. He has chaired the following organisations{Source}:

• the Road Safety Council
• the Railway Accidents Council
• the Community and Safety Association
• the National Road Safety Fund
• the Council for the Promotion of Safety Impact Studies
• the Transport Safety Board and
• the Dutch Safety Board

From February 2005 to January 2011, Pieter van Vollenhoven was Chair of the Dutch Safety Board{Source}. On 1 October 2005,  Pieter van Vollenhoven was appointed Professor of Risk Management at the University of Twente{Source}. Professor Van Vollenhoven is also Chair of the Community and Safety Association{Source}.

He has also co-founded several transportation safety committees including{Source}: 

•  European Transport Safety Council
•  International Transportation Safety Association

Beginning in 1990 he spent a few years acting as advisor to Dr Karel van Miert, the European Commissioner for Transport{Source}. In 2004,  Professor Van Vollenhoven was invited to join the Group of Experts on Accident Investigation, which advises the European Commission{Source}.

Professor Van Vollenhoven has also been active in preserving historical landmarks and objects of cultural and historical value{Source}. Until the end of 2012, the husband of Princess Margriet chaired the National Restoration Fund {Source}. He remains interested in this, especially in the challenge of finding a new purpose for historic buildings{Source}. 

Until the end of 2014, Professor Van Vollenhoven was also Chair of the National Green Fund{Source}.. He has more recently been appointed chair of several committees involved in developing a new approach to the Netherlands’ National Parks{Source}.. Since 2017,  he has chaired an expert committee that is mandated, in cooperation with the forest service Staatsbosheer and the Cultural Heritage Agency, to explore ways of promoting a new, more cohesive network of National Parks{Source}.. 

Professor Van Vollenhoven chairs the Victim Support Fund, which supports and initiates projects aimed at helping witnesses and victims of crimes, road accidents and disasters in the Netherlands, and victims' families{Source}..