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 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 country to country; in som ...

since 10 January 2022. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66), she previously served as Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations 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 Burgomaster, mayors (Dutch language, 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 ...

(October 2017).

Early life and education

Ollongren was born on 28 May 1967 in Leiden to Jhr. Alexander Ollongren, a Dutch East Indies-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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and computer scientist, 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 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 cen ...

, where she attended the secondary school Rijnlands Lyceum 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, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

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 invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, 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 est ...

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 Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

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 m ...

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, 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 i ...

, 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 Democrats 66 became the largest party of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and entered the city's government, Ollongren became an alderwoman and first deputy mayor in

, 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 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 Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations in

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 Unileve ...

's third cabinet, succeeding Ronald Plasterk. 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 leade ...

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 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 usua ...

. 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 identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

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-t ...

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. ...

.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 esta ...

''.

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 program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

. 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