Netherlands
PATRICK WILLEMSEN
Mr. Patrick Willemsen was appointed by Royal Decree as Honorary Consul to the Netherlands for Central Florida in 2010. The area he serves includes the following 22 counties: Charlotte, Citrus, Desoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, and Sumter.
Mr. Willemsen studied economics and management in Amsterdam at the Hoge school van Amsterdam. He started his professional career with a Dutch foundation that was responsible for the implementation of the first Internet-over-cable and TV-shopping mall solution for a Dutch CATV operator. In 1995 he started a trading company in the Netherlands and imported food products from the Middle East to Europe, US and Asia. In 1997 Mr. Willemsen started a telecom company and quickly led the company to a market cap of over 250 million USD. Early 2003 Mr. Willemsen moved to the USA and started a consultancy company.
In 2007 Mr. Willemsen started the ABEX Group, which was founded as a holding company to invest and grow startup companies. The group now has holdings in Real Estate, Media & Entertainment, Pharmaceutical, Medical and Telecom Industry.
Mr. Willemsen serves as the CEO of ABEX Group, as well as the CEO of Stonehenge, one of the ABEX Group investments. Stonehenge Telecom is a US Based company with operations in Europe and Asia. The company provides wholesale, mobile, IP-PBX and calling card services based on VOIP.
Mr. Willemsen currently holds 4 board positions : ABEX group, ABEX Medical, Stonehenge Telecom and Valcom INC. In addition, Mr. Willemsen serves on the board of “Missions made Possible”. This non-profit organization provides life guard and emergency relief flights for those in need of sudden transportation due to unfortunate health problems.
NATHALIE OLIJSLAGER-JAARSMA
Nathalie Olijslager-Jaarsma started her career with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Department for European and Economic Cooperation after receiving her master’s degree international economic relations from Leiden University (The Netherlands) and a one-year stint at Beloit College (Wisconsin) as a Fulbright Scholar.
She then headed to Pretoria, South Africa, as deputy head of Economic Affairs, where she was also involved in the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. In 2003, her assignment took her to the Dutch Embassy in Budapest, Hungary, as the head of Economic Affairs.
From 2007-2010, Nathalie was employed at the Ministry of Economic Affairs as a senior policy advisor in the Department for International Business. She worked as an account manager for such multinational companies as Unilever, Heineken and AkzoNobel.
Before her appointment as Consul General of the Netherlands in Miami, she was head of Business Environment and Market Development at the Department for Sustainable Economic Development with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague.
Nathalie is married and has two children.