Patrick van Veen

Patrick van Veen is a behavioural biologist, author and founder of Apemanagement®. He combines scientific insights from biology with practical applications for organisations, educational institutions and social issues. His mission is to make behaviour understandable and to empower people to shape collaboration, leadership and change effectively.

Van Veen advises executives using an unusual concept: he knows that the behaviours and social structures of a monkey family are very similar to those of humans. In a friendly and humorous manner, he holds up a biological mirror to his audience, enabling them to recognise and understand problems within organisations and tackle them at their root causes.

In companies, employees and managers are regularly confronted with problems whose sources are unclear: communication breakdowns, failed changes, difficulties in collaboration, and high stress-related sick leave. When tackling the symptoms, success is often limited or short-lived.

After studying biology at Utrecht University, he worked in the insurance industry for ten years. There he realised how strongly primate-like behavioural patterns shape everyday working life.

These insights led to the founding of Apemanagement® in 2002 and, in 2004, to his bestseller “Help, Mijn baas is een aap!” (“Help, my boss is a monkey!”).

Since 2008, he has been closely associated with the Jane Goodall Institute Global (Global Chair 2017–2022). He is a senior advisor and consultant to two chimpanzee sanctuaries in Africa. His collaboration with Dr Jane Goodall has had a lasting influence on his understanding of international cooperation, nature conservation and organisational dynamics.

Apemanagement® represents a unique approach: scientific findings from biology are translated into practical knowledge for organisations. Key areas: training and lectures in zoos and organisations, collaboration with partners in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom, development of proprietary management models, research into cooperation, social behaviour and change processes

Van Veen regularly appears in the media as an expert on social behaviour. He gives guest lectures at universities and colleges and is equally well-versed in animal and human behaviour.

He seeks answers to questions such as: Is cooperation a natural instinct, and what are the prerequisites for effective cooperation? In an extremely humorous and charismatic manner, the behavioural scientist sums up the similarities and differences between humans and apes!

He delivers his lectures in German, English and Dutch.