Diver | Jan-Willem van Oldeneel

Bronze | Height 40cm | Signed and dated on the base | 2010

About the artist

Jan-Willem van Oldeneel (Nijmegen, 1957) is a sculptor who lives and works in Laren, North Holland. He trained as an industrial designer and business administrator and works both on commission and on his own projects.

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

He works with a variety of materials, including cast aluminum, cast iron, bronze, and silver, as well as blown or flat glass, carved wood, natural stone, and combinations thereof. He gained his experience with glass as a product manager at the Leerdam Glass Factory. His glass objects are blown at Van Tetterode Glass Objects and De Glasblazerij Leerdam.

In 2024, in collaboration with the local community in Suriname, he created the four-metre-high monument for Boekoe , made of cast aluminium and greenheart wood, to commemorate the slavery past.

In addition, Van Oldeneel served for several years as a military reservist. In this capacity, he created, among other things, a monument for the fallen soldiers in Mali and is currently working on the national veterans monument .