drs. Patrick van Veen

About Patrick van Veen

Biologist Patrick van Veen focuses on primal social behavior, in other words, the antics we exhibit in the workplace. Around different themes he discusses the question why we show certain behavior or why problems arise. He uses the behavior of monkeys as an example. They do not suffer from shame, rational approaches, culture or concealing clothing. They can offer us a perfect framework within which to examine our problems.

Patrick van Veen completed his biology studies in 1993 at Utrecht University's Faculty of Biology. But in 1996 he made the switch to a different sector: the insurance industry, where he worked in commercial positions and as a project manager. It was also in these positions that he discovered the similarities between an organization and a monkey rock.

In 2002, he continued as an independent biologist, trainer and researcher and founded his company Apemanagement. From that position he advises companies, gives presentations and training. In the media he can regularly be seen as a behavioral expert and contributes to TV programs such as 'Married at First Sight' and the popular science program 'Galileo'.

In addition, he is a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Jane Goodall Institute Global, which works internationally for the protection and welfare of chimpanzees and their natural habitats.

Patrick van Veen not only translates existing research, he also conducts his own research into the basic drivers of our behavior. To answer questions such as 'is cooperation an innate instinct' and 'what are the basic conditions 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 recognize this behavior more effectively.

The basis for his current work is research into the similarity between social behavior of apes and humans in companies. In 2004, his first book 'Help! My boss is a monkey', a biological view of social behavior in organizations, got published in a revised version in 2016. He subsequently published the photo and text book Animal colleagues, monkey tricks in the workplace (2007), the essay 'Kuddegedrag in crisistijd, een biologische kijk op menselijk gedrag' (2009) (Herd behavior in times of crisis, a biological view of human behavior) on the credit crisis and, together with Sarah Mutsaers, wrote the book 'Pestkop apenkop' (2012) (Bully monkey head), in which they try to answer the question: Is bullying natural behavior and is it embedded in our genes? Then he wrote 'Oerinstincten van de Liefde' (2014) (Primal Instincts of Love) intended for singles to discover how people can find the love of their lives. Patrick van Veen's latest book came out in 2017: 'verliefd op je klant' ('falling in love with your client').

Patrick's motto is translating science to knowledge. With this he tries to make biological science accessible to managers and entrepreneurs, among others, and make people aware of our primal biological behavior.