Philip Freriks

About Philip Freriks

Philip Freriks is a freelance journalist, publicist, and TV presenter. He is known for, among others, ‘De Slimste Mens’, ‘Lopend Vuur’, ‘Het Groot Dictee der Nederlandse Taal’, the book program ‘Passages’, ‘Avond van de Korte Film’ (NPS, 1996/1997), and various talk shows at the Netherlands Film Festival Utrecht (1994 to 2001).

For thirteen years, he presented the NOS news. He said goodbye on December 18, 2009. He long represented the voice in the KRO program ‘Profiel’ and acted as a narrator during the live broadcast of ‘The Passion’ at Willemsplein in Rotterdam in 2012. Since 2012, Philip Freriks has been presenting ‘De Slimste Mens’ at KRO-NCRV. Philip brought ‘Het Groot Dictee der Nederlandse Taal’ to the Netherlands. On December 17, 2014, the 25th edition of ‘Het Groot Dictee’ was broadcast with Philip Freriks as the presenter.

Journalistic Career

Freriks began his journalistic career at the age of sixteen at the ‘Nieuw Utrechts Dagblad’ and worked outside of school hours for ‘Het Vrije Volk’. In 1966, he moved to Paris and studied at the Institute of Political Sciences (IEP). In 1971, he became a correspondent for ‘Het Parool’. From 1974 to 1977, Philip worked at VARA’s ‘Achter het Nieuws’ and the groundbreaking political program ‘Haagsche Kringen’. He was also a correspondent in the Netherlands for the French quality newspaper ‘Le Monde’. After returning to Paris, he became a correspondent for ‘Het Parool’, NOS, and ‘de Volkskrant’. For NOS, he followed OPEC during the time of the major oil crisis.

Television
From 1989 to 1990, Philip Freriks presented the weekly media segment ‘Lopend Vuur’ for NOS, the book program ‘Passages’ (NPS), and the history program ‘De tijd staat even stil’ (NCRV). He also presented ‘De Avond van de Korte Film’ and ‘De Avond van het Boek’ on the occasion of the Libris Literature Prize award ceremony several times. Additionally, he presented ‘de Nationale Bijbelquiz’ (formerly ‘de Nationale Bijbeltest’).

Since 1990, Philip has been associated as a TV presenter with ‘Het Groot Dictee der Nederlandse Taal’. This program is broadcast annually in December by NTR. From January 1, 1999, he was a newsreader at NOS for 13 years. On December 18, 2009, he presented his last ‘Achtuurjournaal’. Since July 2008, he has made a series of location reports in France for the program segment ‘Le Tour de Fifi’ in ‘De Avondetappe’ by Mart Smeets.

In November 2008, Freriks, together with Eva Jinek and Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal, presented live from Washington the broadcast reporting on the historic election of Barack Obama as president of the US. In August 2009, he presented part of the ‘Achtuurjournaal’ for three consecutive days from Kabul, Afghanistan, where presidential elections were held on August 20. Since 2012, he has been presenting the successful TV quiz ‘De Slimste Mens’, which will experience its 5th edition in the winter of 2014/2015. In May 2014, Freriks was seen as the presenter of the EO program ‘Lang Leve de Lente’. He was also seen in the summer of 2014 in the new program ‘Lekker Weertje’, together with Erwin Krol, which was broadcast by Max.

Books
Freriks wrote the successful guide ‘Neem nou Parijs’, ‘Het Spoor van de Monumentale Meridiaan’, ‘Ik herinner me…’, ‘Gare du Nord’, ‘Jantje’, and ‘Les chats de lili’ (written together with Lili Freriks). In 2010, ‘De Mitterand Route’ was published.

Ambassador
Philip Freriks has been an ambassador for ‘Nederland Leest’ of the CNPB since the first edition in 2006 until 2013. During the national campaign ‘Nederland Leest’, everyone is invited to discuss a specific book together. The underlying idea is that ‘stimulated’ discussions about one socially relevant book at a time promote both reading and community spirit.

Additionally, Philip Freriks is an ambassador for the ‘Dutch Colonies of Benevolence’ in Veenhuizen, Drenthe. Through his participation in the program ‘Verborgen Verleden’, Freriks discovered that part of his history lies in the former poor colonies for paupers. Freriks supports the colonies, which aim to achieve UNESCO World Heritage status in 2018.

Theater
In addition to his journalistic and literary work, Freriks has recently completed two successful theater tours in the Netherlands. He performed with the text-music program ‘Ik herinner me’ (also published as a book) and subsequently with ‘Gare du Nord’, which became a bestseller in book form. In the spring of 2005, a narration was released under the title ‘Jantje’, about his oldest brother who died as a nine-year-old boy during the liberation of Groningen. From October 2008, he was seen in the theater production ‘De Grote Verkiezingsshow’ by Het Zuidelijk Toneel. The role earned him rave reviews. He was a narrator multiple times in chamber operas by the company ‘Piccoli Olandesi’ under the direction of Marc Panthus. In 2009, he was part of the cast of ‘Claus’, a one-time theater production about Prince Claus’s love for Africa and his connection to the Dutch Antilles and Suriname. In 2009, he was a narrator at (coronation) concerts of the Bach Society conducted by Richard Egarr. With the same conductor and students from the Dutch National Opera Academy, he also did the ‘making of’ of Mozart’s opera ‘Clemenza di Tito’ at the Festival Classique in The Hague (June 2010). In 2010, he was one of the guest readers at the theater tour ‘Afscheidsmonologen’. In January 2013, he commemorated the French composer Francis Poulenc in the storytelling concert ‘Voyage à Paris’ at the Rode Hoed in Amsterdam. Freriks initiated this and wrote the text. The storytelling concert is still performed in various places with Freriks as the narrator.

On Request
Philip Freriks is a culture enthusiast and acts as a moderator, presenter, or discussion leader at the top segment of events and business symposia. With his sharp assessment ability and ingenuity, he knows how to emphasize the right points in the content to be presented.