Aart Bontekoning was born on a farm. He spent a carefree youth in Noordoostpolder, a municipality in the Province of Flevoland. He was older than most by the time he attended college and university; after completing athenaeum, he went to police academy and studied organizational psychology. During that time he also worked with the police force, first on the beat and later at management level.

Since 1987, he has worked as an organizational psychologist. He was also a part-time lecturer in organizational skills at the Utrecht University and the Academy for Fire Fighting Management.

After six years of field experiments, he did doctoral research from 2000 to 2007, culminating in a thesis entitled ‘Generations in Organizations, the hidden forces of our evolution.’

His hobbies: sports, music, movies and contemporary art.