Curriculum Vitae Ronald Gerard (Ron) Strikker

 Ronald Gerard (Ron) Strikker was born on 14 April 1955, in Almelo, the Netherlands. After having completed the gymnasium at the Grundel College in Hengelo, he entered the State University of Utrecht in 1973 where he obtained a masters degree in law.

His diplomatic career started in 1981 when he was assigned to the Netherlands Embassy in Kenya as Third Secretary in charge of development co-operation and trade relations. After having returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague in 1983, he became Deputy Legal Advisor to the Minister for Development Co-operation.

In 1986 he entered the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA) as member of the “cycle étranger” and was elected as member of its bureau.

After a short period (January – May 1988) at the Netherlands Embassy in Santiago de Chile, he was posted to Bangkok as First Secretary until 1992. His main responsibilities related to development co-operation activities in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In addition, he was Deputy Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Economic and Social Committee in Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

In 1992 he returned to the Ministry in The Hague to head one of the divisions within the Department of European Integration until 1997, during which period the Netherlands assumed the Presidency of the European Union.  From 1997 until 2001 he headed the Division of Asylum and Migration.

As of 2002 he was Deputy Head of the OSCE Task Force responsible for preparing and co-ordinating in The Hague, the Dutch OSCE Chairmanship in 2003.  From June 2004 to August 2008 he was Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in London.

He was subsequently appointed Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ron Strikker is married to Conny Westgeest. They have one son, Coert.