Henk Ovink is the Executive Director for the Global Commission on the Economics of Water and senior fellow at the World Resources Institute. He was the first ever global water ambassador for over eight years, appointed in 2015 by the Dutch Cabinet as Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, and led the second ever UN Water Conference in 2023 (the first since 1977).
Advocating water awareness around the world, building institutional capacity and coalitions amongst governments, multilateral organisations, private sector and NGO’s, he also initiated innovate approaches like Water as Leverage.
Henk served on President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force where he led the long-term innovation, resilience, and rebuilding. He developed and led the ‘Rebuild by Design’ competition and initiated the National Disaster Resilience Competition. Ovink was 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.
He holds an honorary doctorate at Delft University. He is affiliated to the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes at Columbia University’s GSAPP and Climate School and is lecturer at the University of Groningen. In 2023 Henk Ovink was the 10th recipient of the Foreign Affairs Decoration of Honor in Gold, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for his unique and outstanding water diplomacy work and leadership.