Former politician, actor, writer, and musician
Boris van der Ham is a versatile speaker, trained as an actor and known as a former member of parliament from 2002 to 2012, currently active as an executive in healthcare, culture, and business, as well as an author of books, actor in TV series, columnist, and musician.
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With his very accessible and witty style, Boris can translate the breadth of his experience into in-depth analysis and practical solutions. He is able to encourage his audience to think beyond conventional paths and inspires with examples from his own experiences in areas such as disability care, as an actor, and as a writer.
As a politician, he became known as a progressive voice. He served for many years as the spokesperson for education and is also a strong advocate for the separation of church and state, as well as a proponent of strong foundations for our freedoms and democracy. He wrote a large number of historical legislative proposals and was elected twice with preferential votes.
As an actor, he graduated in 1998 from the renowned Maastricht Theatre Academy and performed until 2002 in plays such as ‘Macbeth’, ‘Antigone’, and ‘Timon of Athens’. He made his comeback on stage in 2016 in productions including ‘Ciske de Rat’, and was seen in 2023 in ‘George Orwell’s 1984’. On television, he appeared in popular series such as ‘Flikken Maastricht’ and ‘Smeris’. As a musician, he has been releasing albums since 2020, including ‘Niemand dan wij’ and ‘Lapjeskat’, in which he combines pop music with chanson and big band influences.
As an executive, he was for a long time the chairman of the Humanist Association and active with Humanists International in London. He produced two documentaries about ex-Muslims for the Human broadcasting organization. Currently, he is, among other roles, the chairman of Disability Care Netherlands (VGN), the Events Sector (VVEM), and the Dutch Franchise Association (NFV), and was a member of the SER and VNO-NCW.
Van der Ham has written several books on leadership and the dilemmas of freedom, including ‘De Koning Kun Je Niet Spelen’, ‘De Vrije Moraal’, and ‘Nieuwe Vrijdenkers’. In 2025, his latest book ‘Onzichtbaar’ will be published, focusing on the 1.1 million Dutch people with a mild intellectual disability.
Our free and democratic society is under pressure. If we want to defend it, several major reforms will need to be implemented: in politics, in education, in the business world, and in everyday society. Van der Ham takes us on an original examination of what is currently going wrong, and also what lessons we can learn to solve these issues. What can hold a free society together.
People and their leaders have not changed over the past thousands of years. That is the assertion of Van der Ham. The mistakes that leaders make now, they also made in ancient Greece, and also in Shakespeare’s time. Experienced administrator Boris van der Ham – graduated as an actor from the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts – takes you through theatrical laws from which many a leader can still learn. A witty and inspiring story.
In the Netherlands, we assume that everyone is self-reliant and can cope well with the rapid changes in our society. But an increasingly larger group of Dutch citizens cannot manage this. Boris van der Ham wrote the book ‘Invisible’ about the 1.1 million Dutch people with a mild intellectual disability. Overrepresented in sad statistics of poverty, loneliness, and crime. How do we keep the Netherlands understandable and close?
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