HWJ (Henk) Ovink

Henk Ovink is the founding Commissioner and Executive Director for the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. He was the first global water ambassador, appointed in 2015 by the Dutch Cabinet as Special Envoy for International Water Affairs. As Ambassador to the UN on Water, he led the second UN Water Conference in 2023, the first since 1977.

Henk is Senior Fellow at Wageningen University on green water research and diplomacy and the Chair of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Board of Governors.

Henk served on President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force where he led the long-term innovation, resilience, and rebuilding efforts and developed and led the groundbreaking ‘Rebuild by Design’ competition. Before joining the Task Force Ovink was both Acting Director General of Spatial Planning and Water Affairs and Director National Spatial Planning for the Netherlands after multiple roles in the private sector and academia.

Henk is visiting fellow at Mariana Mazzucato’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at UCL in London, working with professor Mazzucato and team on water economics, advancing the work of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. Henk is also Associate Professor at the University of Groningen, and is affiliated to the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes at Columbia University’s GSAPP and Climate School. He is the chair of the International Advisory Board of Deltares.

In 2023 Henk Ovink was the 10th recipient of the Foreign Affairs Decoration of Honor in Gold for his global leadership on water diplomacy. Henk holds an honorary doctorate at Delft University. His book - written together with Jelte Boeijenga - “Too Big. Rebuild by Design: A Transformative Approach to Climate Change” explores his climate and water work for the Obama Administration.