Onno has been working as a humanitarian and development professional for over 20 years managing programmes and operations in some of the world’s most challenging contexts. Most recently as Country Director for Save the Children in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. During his career he managed and oversaw both development programs as well as responses to some of the largest humanitarian crisis in the past decade. He has been part of the Humanitarian Country Team in various countries.
Onno attended the Royal Dutch Naval college after which he completed his Bachelor degree in Business Engineering in Eindhoven NL, and obtained his Master of Geopolitics and Grand Strategy (and Development) at Sussex University in the UK.
He has been passionate about human wellbeing and development throughout his career, starting with Right to Play to support children in refugee camps. After that he worked with ACF / AAH and Save the Children for nearly 2 decades.
After a long overseas career, Onno joined as Head of GAIN Netherlands in July 2023.