Jkvr. Karin Hildur "Kajsa" Ollongren (; ; born 28 May 1967) is a Dutch politician serving as the Netherlands'

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

since 10 January 2022. A member of the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the Centrism, centre of the Left–right political spectrum, p ...

(D66), she previously served as

Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations ( nl, Minister van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties) is the head of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and a member of the Cabinet and the Council of Ministers. The in ...

and second Deputy Prime Minister in the

third Rutte cabinet The third Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022 (since 15 January 2021 demissionary). It was formed by a coalition government of the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ...

(2017–2022), and briefly as

Mayor of Amsterdam Below is a list of mayors (Dutch: ''burgemeesters'') of Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands. The city had four burgomasters, serving four years. Since 1389 the mayors were elected on 1 February. In the 17th and 18th century, a new mayor was ele ...

(October 2017).

Early life and education

Ollongren was born on 28 May 1967 in Leiden to Jhr.

Alexander Ollongren Alexander Ollongren (born November 9, 1928) is a professor emeritus at Leiden University. He serves on the Advisory Council of METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Personal life Alexander Ollongren was born on November 9, 1928 on a ...

, a

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

-born

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

and

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...

, and his Swedish wife Gunvor Lundgren. The Dutch Ollongren, originating from the Russian branch of the Finnish-Swedish noble family (originally named Ållongren), was incorporated into the untitled

Dutch nobility The Dutch nobility is a small elite social class constisting of individuals or families recognized as noble, and with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The existence of nobility was established in the Constitution ...

in 2002, thereby giving her the noble predicate "

jonkvrouw (female equivalent: ; french: Écuyer; en, Squire) is an honorific in the Low Countries denoting the lowest rank within the nobility. In the Netherlands, this in general concerns a prefix used by the untitled nobility. In Belgium, this is the ...

". Because of her Swedish mother, she also has

Swedish citizenship Swedish nationality law determines entitlement to Swedish citizenship. Citizenship of Sweden is based primarily on the principle of ''jus sanguinis''. In other words, citizenship is conferred primarily by birth to a Swedish parent, irrespective ...

. Ollongren grew up in

Oegstgeest Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in . Etymology The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeenth cent ...

, where she attended the secondary school

Rijnlands Lyceum Stichting The Rijnlands Lyceum Foundation ( nl, Stichting Het Rijnlands Lyceum) is an educational Stichting, foundation in the Netherlands encompassing nine different schools; three offering primary education and six offering secondary education ...

between 1979 and 1985. She then went to the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

, where she initially studied

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

between 1985 and 1986, but switched her field of study in 1986 to

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, in which she obtained an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1991. She subsequently studied

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

at the

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President of France, President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the Constitu ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

foreign relations A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through mu ...

at the

Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael The Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael ( nl, Nederlands Instituut voor Internationale Betrekkingen Clingendael) or Clingendael Institute (''Instituut Clingendael'') is a Dutch think tank and academy on international relat ...

Career in the civil service

Ollongren started her career in the civil service at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, becoming a policymaker in the area of Central and Eastern Europe there in 1992, in which capacity she trained young political parties of the newly established democracies in the area. She was head of parliamentary affairs within the ministry until 2001, and director of European Integration and Strategy from 2001 to 2004, and became Deputy Director General of the ministry in 2004. In 2007, Ollongren moved to the

Ministry of General Affairs , type = Department , logo = Ministerie van Algemene Zaken Logo.png , logo_width = 250x250px , logo_caption = Logo of the Ministry of General Affairs , image = Ministerie Algeme ...

, the department headed by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, becoming Deputy Secretary General. She became Secretary General of the ministry in 2011.

Political career

Local politics

After the 2014 local election, in which the

became the largest party of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and entered the city's government, Ollongren became an

alderwoman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members th ...

and first

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

, taking office on 18 June 2014. Her portfolio as alderwoman was extensive, including economic affairs, seaport, airport, participation, art, culture, local media, monuments and the city centre. On 18 September 2017, the city's mayor

Eberhard van der Laan Eberhard Edzard van der Laan (; 28 June 1955 – 5 October 2017) was a Dutch politician who served as Minister for Housing, Communities and Integration from 2008 to 2010 and Mayor of Amsterdam from 2010 until his death in 2017. He was a member ...

announced in an open letter to the people of Amsterdam that he would step back from his public responsibilities due to ill health, leaving Ollongren to exercise these responsibilities in his stead from 19 September onward. The day after his death, on 6 October, Ollongren became acting

Minister of the Interior, 2017–2022

On 26 October 2017, Ollongren was appointed as

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unilever ...

's third cabinet, succeeding

Ronald Plasterk Ronald Hans Anton Plasterk (; born 12 April 1957) is a Dutch scientist, entrepreneur and retired politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He has earned a PhD degree in biology, specialised in molecular genetics. Being a former Minister of the Du ...

. She also became the second of the cabinet's three

Deputy Prime Ministers A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

, serving alongside

Hugo de Jonge Hugo Mattheüs de Jonge (; born 26 September 1977) is a Dutch politician serving as Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning since 2022 in the Fourth Rutte cabinet. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he was elected to its leader ...

and

Carola Schouten Cornelia Johanna "Carola" Schouten (born 6 October 1977) is a Dutch politician serving as third Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions in the IV Rutte Cabinet since 10 January 2022. Sh ...

. From 1 November 2019 to 14 April 2020, she was on

medical leave Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sic ...

of absence. Following the 2021 general election, Ollongren (D66) and

Annemarie Jorritsma Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink (born 1 June 1950) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businesswoman. She is the Parliamentary leader in the Senate since 24 November 2015 and a Member of the Senate since 9 ...

of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD) led the initial exploratory talks of the

government formation Government formation is the process in a parliamentary system of selecting a prime minister and cabinet members. If no party controls a majority of seats, it can also involve deciding which parties will be part of a coalition government. It usuall ...

. Both of them stepped down on 25 March 2021 after Ollongren was photographed carrying notes with confidential information visible. The talks had been suspended earlier that day, because Ollongren had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Minister of Defence, 2022–present

Early in her tenure, Ollongren agreed to a Ukrainian request to supply 200

FIM-92 Stinger The FIM-92 Stinger is an American man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, and from helicopters as the Air-to- ...

air defence rockets and 50

Panzerfaust 3 The Panzerfaust 3 (lit. "armor fist" or "tank fist") is a modern semi-disposable recoilless anti-tank weapon, which was developed between 1978 and 1985 and first entered service with the Bundeswehr in 1987 (although they did not officially adopt ...

anti-tank systems with 400 rockets in response to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

.Anthony Deutsch (26 February 2022)
Dutch to supply anti-tank, air defence rockets to Ukraine
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

''.

Personal life

Ollongren is married to

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

. The couple have two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ollongren, Kajsa 1967 births Living people 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians Aldermen of Amsterdam Democrats 66 politicians Deputy Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Dutch people of Finnish descent Dutch people of Russian descent Dutch people of Swedish descent École nationale d'administration alumni Female defence ministers Female interior ministers Jonkvrouws of the Netherlands Lesbian politicians LGBT cabinet members of the Netherlands LGBT mayors of places in the Netherlands Mayors of Amsterdam Ministers of Defence of the Netherlands Ministers of Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands People from Leiden University of Amsterdam alumni Women government ministers of the Netherlands Women mayors of places in the Netherlands