Wiebe Draijer

Biography

Born and growing up in Enschede, Draijer wanted to be a reporter, but an uncle advised him to complete a professional study before trying his hand at journalism. Following this advise Draijer studied mechanical engineering at the Delft University of Technology from 1983 to 1989. During his time as a student he also worked as a freelance reporter for NRC Handelsblad. From 1987 to 1989 he completed a traineeship and a year as a researcher at Philips Research Laboratories.

Having completed his university education, he joined McKinsey & Company as a fellow. Augmenting his earlier education with an MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, he was promoted to country managing partner for the Netherlands in 2004 and for the Benelux in 2006.

During his career at McKinsey, Draijer held several highly visible positions in Dutch society. Among others he was chairman of the Stichting Toekomstbeeld der Techniek (of which he is still a member of the board), member of the supervisory board of the Kröller-Müller Museum, member of the advisory board for Champs on Stage (an organization focusing on reducing highschool dropout), member of the advisory board for World Press Photo, member of the Innovatieplatform (a government advisory board to stimulate the Dutch knowledge economy) and member of the Education Innovation Network. He was also a founding member of 21minuten.nl (now De Nationale Dialoog), a website focused on generating public debate on political issues as well as more active citizenship.

On 19 June 2012 Henk Kamp (the Dutch Minister of Social Affairs) nominated Draijer to succeed Alexander Rinnooy Kan as SER-chairman per 1 September 2012. The SER endorsed this nomination on 21 June 2012 and his appointment became final with Queen Beatrix signing the appointment in July 2012.

On 1 July 2014 Draijer left the SER and started to work for Rabobank, of which he is to become governor of the board on 1 October 2014. On 10 September 2014 he was succeeded as chair of the SER by Mariëtte Hamer.