Early Life
Oltmans was born into a wealthy family with roots in the Dutch East Indies. During the Second World War he was a member of the Dutch Resistance. "We blew up a German train," Oltmans told the Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad in 2003 "Hitler called me a terrorist, but I saw myself as a freedom fighter."
He studied at the prestigious Nyenrode Business University (1946) and Yale University (1948), without graduating. Originally intend on a career with the diplomatic corps of the foreign service, he ended up working in press offices in the Netherlands (1953–1955). He married in 1955 and worked as a free lance reporter in Rome in 1956. There he befriended Indonesian president Sukarno, which started his remarkable career as a controversial journalist.
Convinced that a well connected and informed individual could play a decisive role in the international political arena, he assumed a pro-active part in global political developments, becoming both a news reporter and news maker.
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“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
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