Drs. Patrick van Veen

About Patrick van Veen

Biologist Patrick van Veen focuses on primal social behavior, specifically the antics we display in the workplace. Through various topics, he explores why we exhibit certain behaviors or why problems arise. He uses the behavior of apes as an example. They do not suffer from shame, rational approaches, culture, or concealing clothing. They can provide us with a perfect framework to examine our problems.

Patrick van Veen completed his biology studies at the Faculty of Biology at Utrecht University in 1993. However, in 1996, he switched to another sector: the insurance industry, where he worked in commercial positions and as a project manager. In these roles, he also discovered the similarities between an organization and a monkey rock.

In 2002, he became self-employed as a biologist, trainer, and researcher, founding his company Apemanagement. From there, he advises companies, gives lectures, and conducts training sessions. He is regularly seen in the media as a behavior expert and contributes to television programs such as “Married at First Sight” and the popular science show “Galileo”.

Additionally, he is a trustee and member of the executive committee of the Jane Goodall Institute Global, which is dedicated internationally to the protection and welfare of chimpanzees and their natural habitats.

Patrick van Veen not only translates existing research but also conducts his own research into the fundamental drivers of our behavior. To answer questions like ‘is cooperation an innate instinct’ and ‘what are the basic prerequisites for good cooperation’, he and his colleagues conduct behavioral research on chimpanzees and gorillas. The research into the drivers of bullying behavior has already produced concrete tools for education to better recognize this behavior.

The foundation of his current work is the study of the similarity of social behavior between apes and humans in companies. In 2004, his first book ‘Help! My Boss is a Monkey’, a biological view of social behavior in organizations, was published and released in a revised edition in 2016. He then published the illustrated book Animal Colleagues, Monkey Tricks at the Workplace (2007), the essay ‘Herd Behavior in Times of Crisis, a Biological Perspective on Human Behavior’ (2009) about the credit crisis, and co-authored with Sarah Mutsaers the book ‘Bully Monkey’ (2012), where they attempt to answer the question: Is bullying a natural behavior and is it ingrained in our genes? He then wrote “Primal Instincts of Love” (2014), aimed at singles to learn how people can find the love of their life. Patrick van Veen’s latest book was published in 2017: ‘In Love with Your Client’.

Patrick’s motto is the translation of science into knowledge. With this, he aims to make biological science accessible to managers and entrepreneurs, among others, and to raise awareness of our primal biological behavior.