Willem Oltmans

Willem Oltmans
Oltmans in the 1950s
Born	Willem Leonard Oltmans (1925-06-10)10 June 1925 Huizen, Netherlands
Died	30 September 2004(2004-09-30) (aged 79) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Cause of death	Liver cancer
Nationality	Dutch
Education	Nyenrode Business University Yale University
Occupation	Investigative Journalist · Author · Interviewer
Years active	1950-2004

Willem Leonard Oltmans (10 June 1925 – 30 September 2004) was a Dutch investigative journalist and author who did not hesitate to pro-actively intervene in international politics.

Due to the highly critical and opposite stance he often took towards Dutch global politics, as of 1956 the Dutch government conspired to keep him out of work. A lengthy lawsuit (1991–2000) involving the Royal family led to the state having to pay him damages. An erudite orator, the straightforward and uncompromising Oltmans was a striking character in Dutch society.

Oltmans was born into a wealthy family with roots in the Dutch East Indies. During the Second World War he was a member of the Dutch Resistance. "We blew up a German train," Oltmans told the Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad in 2003 "Hitler called me a terrorist, but I saw myself as a freedom fighter."

He studied at the prestigious Nyenrode Business University (1946) and Yale University (1948), without graduating. Originally intent on a career with the diplomatic corps of the foreign service, he ended up working in press offices in the Netherlands (1953–1955). He married in 1955 and worked as a freelance reporter in Rome in 1956. There he befriended Indonesian president Sukarno, which started his remarkable career as a controversial journalist.

Convinced that a well connected and informed individual could play a decisive role in the international political arena, he assumed a pro-active part in global political developments, becoming both a news reporter and news maker.

Against the will of the Dutch government, Oltmans interviewed Indonesian president Sukarno in 1956. Once he became a confidant of Sukarno and part of his inner circle he took it upon himself to convince the broader public in the Netherlands of the legitimacy of Sukarno's viewpoints. In 1957 he pleaded for the transfer of Dutch New Guinea to Indonesia while in Indonesia. He claimed to have prevented a Dutch war against Indonesia over New Guinea by sending a memo to US president Kennedy. Subsequently Joseph Luns, Minister of Foreign Affairs, covertly tried everything to sabotage Oltmans' career, with considerable success: for a long time, Oltmans was forced to live off welfare. Luns, who now had become Oltmans' , called him a 'one engine mosquito'. In 1995 Oltmans published his book 'My friend Sukarno'.