Jan-Willem van Oldeneel

Jan-Willem van Oldeneel (Nijmegen, 1957) is a sculptor who lives and works in Laren (NH), the Netherlands. He was trained as an industrial designer and business administrator, and works on both commissioned and independent projects.

His oeuvre includes sculpted portraits of people and animals in ceramic or bronze, ranging from plaques and busts to full figures and groups. He also creates sculptures and objects for special occasions – such as graduations, weddings, anniversaries, openings, farewells, or in memory of a deceased person – as well as medals and items for ecclesiastical use, including altars and candlesticks.

He works with various materials such as cast aluminum, cast iron, bronze, and silver, but also with blown or flat glass, worked wood, natural stone, or combinations thereof. He gained his experience with glass as a product manager at Glasfabriek Leerdam. His glass objects are blown at Van Tetterode Glasobjecten and De Glasblazerij Leerdam.

In 2024, in collaboration with the local community in Suriname, he realized the four-meter-high Boni monument, made of cast aluminum and greenheart wood, commemorating the history of slavery.

In addition, Van Oldeneel was active as a military reservist for several years. In this capacity, he created a monument for fallen soldiers in Mali, among other things, and recently created the National Veterans Monument for the Netherlands.

View the work of Jan-Willem van Oldeneel here.