About Us

OUR HISTORY

Apollo Executive Search was established in 2016 by former strategy consultants and entrepreneurs Peter Zeeuw van der Laan and Maarten van der Kwaak.

The company started out by connecting some of the most successful private equity funds and fastest-growing scaleups in the Netherlands to top-tier candidates exiting strategy consulting through a members-only platform ConsultancyExit.com.

In the years that followed, Apollo has expanded its services and established itself as one of the foremost executive search partners for investors and founders of mid-size growth companies in the Dutch market who are seeking to attract local or global C-level talent.

We have built an especially strong track record through lasting partnerships with many well-known investors both in the Private Equity and Venture Capital space. To date, we have partnered with 100+ clients and have successfully completed 200+ searches.

CAREERS

We are always looking for prospective colleagues with a background in business or consultancy and a strong interest in a diverse set of industries.

Our own backgrounds are wide-ranging from a former CFO of a SaaS scaleup to a Harvard-educated PhD to former consultants, and we very much welcome additional diversity.

If you are an experienced professional with a strong interest in business and people you can get in touch by emailing peter@apolloexecutivesearch.com.

Our Consultants

Peter Zeeuw van der Laan

Peter works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries and functions, specialising in private equity (portfolio companies), technology scale-ups and strategy positions.

Peter is Managing Partner and co-founder of Apollo and has worked in executive search since 2016. Prior to Apollo, Peter worked as a consultant at McKinsey (between ’10 and ’15) and as Managing Director / co-founder of Carmudi Indonesia with Rocket Internet. 

Peter graduated cum laude from TU Delft with an MSc in Applied Physics after exchanges to Zurich, China, Singapore and Barcelona. 

Peter enjoys sailing and cycling through the French countryside with his girlfriend Lisette.

Contact: peter@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31683620129

Maarten van der Kwaak

Maarten works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on C-level executive searches and succession plans. Maarten works closely with especially Private Equity on their portfolio operations.

Before co-founding Apollo, Maarten built a number of successful recruitment businesses including Legal Top Talent that he founded as a student, The Legal Bench, ConsultancyExit and MatcHR, which serves leading tech companies worldwide. He began his career as a strategy consultant at Roland Berger in Amsterdam.

Maarten has MSc degrees in both Law and Economics (with distinction) from the University of Groningen and an MBA from INSEAD (Dean’s list).
Maarten as a former skiing instructor is a skiing enthusiast and has been holding a season ticket at Ajax with his father for years now.
Contact: maarten@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31630569794

Nadine Collet

Nadine works with CEOs, founders/ entrepreneurs and investors across a broad variety of industries. Her specialism (and passion) is building successful management teams in complex settings such as the next phase of growth in start-ups/ scale-ups, or family-owned companies in need of transformation (often triggered by a change of ownership).

Prior to joining Apollo, Nadine was CFO at SecurityMatters, a VC-backed cyber security software scale-up, where she helped, next to her finance function, significantly to form the management team, build the advisory board and lead the strategy development. She started her career as a strategy consultant at L.E.K. Consulting in London and Shanghai.

Nadine holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Heidelberg, in Germany and has an MSc in International Management from ESCP-EAP Business School in Paris, France.

Together with her husband and children, Nadine loves the outdoors and can be found all-year round running (with and after her children), playing Tennis, skiing and biking.

Contact: nadine@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31621487503

Jan Visser

Jan works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on C-level executive searches as well as searches for senior strategy, commercial and operational roles.
Before joining Apollo, Jan built and managed a team of marketing & sales professionals at ANWB, growing some of the ANWB’s largest products and partnerships. Prior to that Jan worked as a strategy consultant and manager at Nolan, Norton & Co. and EY, focussing on growth strategies, strategic sourcing, commercial due diligence and organizational design. During his careers Jan has had the pleasure and opportunity to build successful teams in several capacities.
Jan graduated from TU Delft (MSc) as a transport and logistics engineer. During his career he further developed his management skills at TIAS and ESADE.

Jan enjoys family live with his wife and two children and likes to spend time on cooking, reading and running through Amsterdam’s parks.

Contact:

jan@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31653746563

Thirza Wolfs

Thirza supports entrepreneurs and investors across industries on their C-level search and assessment needs.

Prior to joining Apollo, Thirza worked at FMCG multinational Diageo, focusing on Executive Hiring for the top 200 positions globally. Previously Thirza worked for 15+ years with international executive search firms Spencer Stuart and Russell Reynolds Associates. advising clients on leadership across the Consumer Goods, Retail and Technology sectors.
Thirza graduated from VU University Amsterdam (MSc) in Political Sciences.
She enjoys spending time with her husband and three children and is passionate about Italy, cooking, culture & art. She is a keen practitioner of outdoor activities including hiking, skiing, cycling and yoga.

Contact:
thirza@apolloexecutivesearch.com
+31655502942

Pleun van Engen

Pleun works closely with CEOs, founders/ entrepreneurs and investors across a broad variety of industries to advise on leadership challenges and recruit top talent for a range of executive roles. With more than 10 years of experience as a leadership advisory and executive search consultant, Pleun advises on (amongst others) succession planning, talent development and diversity in light of long-term company objectives.

Prior to joining Apollo, Pleun was a senior consultant at leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds Associates, where she led the European Supply Chain Practice and worked in particular for the Energy and Industrial sectors. Pleun started her career as a lawyer at Allen & Overy, where she worked as a corporate/commercial lawyer in the Energy Sector.

Pleun holds a Masters in Law from the University of Maastricht.

Pleun loves to spend her free time camping and skiing with her daughter. She is also a board game enthusiast and tries to convince people to join her for a game, every chance she gets.

Contact:

pleun@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31613387330

Mayke van Gelder

Mayke works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on executive search and executive assessments including for a range of senior strategy roles.
Mayke joined Apollo from Eden McCallum, a leading freelance strategy consulting firm where she was a Manager shaping and delivering successful consultant teams in strategy, operations and organisation for clients including 40% of the AEX. Earlier, Mayke had been Programme Manager at the Dutch Research Council focused on investments in groundbreaking innovative research.
Mayke obtained an MSc in Developmental Psychology from the University of Amsterdam.
Outside of work, Mayke loves to spend time with family and friends combined with good food and wine.
Contact: mayke@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31647408823

Karen Steeman–van Rosse

Karen works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on C-level executive searches as well as searches for senior strategy, commercial, and operational roles.

Before joining Apollo, Karen worked in the financial services industry in London for 10 years (KBC Bank and Fortis Bank), after which she started a career in executive search in Singapore. From 2016, Karen was a senior consultant in a boutique recruitment consultancy in The Hague (Vroom & Van den Heuvel), with a main focus on Senior HR positions, and with Acre; an international executive search firm focused on Senior Sustainability professionals.

Karen holds an MA in Employment Law from the University of Rotterdam. 

In her free time, Karen enjoys cooking for family and friends, playing the piano, and sports (skiing, tennis, running).

Contact:

karen@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31639592230

Louise van Baar

Louise works closely with entrepreneurs, family businesses and investors across various sectors on different functions such as CEOs, CCOs, COOs as well as roles in supply chain, procurement, strategy and investment.

Before joining Apollo Louise spent more than six years at Egon Zehnder, where she was aligned to its global health practice group. She was involved on a range of (international) assignments and worked with a variety of clients, from PE portfolio companies to large corporates. 

Louise holds an MA Philosophy and an MA Dutch Language & Literature from the University of Amsterdam. During her studies she worked as a part time lecturer and taught Dutch language, ethics and communication courses. 

Louise lives in Amsterdam and loves family, friends, reading, (ro)cycling, skiing and field hockey. 

Contact:

louise@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31630671950

Jessica Kraintz

Jessica works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on executive search and executive assessments including for a range of senior strategy, commercial and operational roles in tech-driven companies.
Jessica joins from Avonwick Group and has over a decade experience in executive search within asset management and banking. Prior to recruitment she worked in structured finance at Newedge (Soc Gen), BGC and Crosspoint Capital. Jessica has also worked in fund raising for asset managers including the CLO manager Princeton Advisory, various hedge funds, private equity and most recently with Riverrock European Capital (a Roland Berger founded investment firm) in London.
Jessica received an MSc from the London School of Economics in Political Economics focusing on risk and regulation in developing countries. She received a First (Hons) on her dissertation which featured an in-depth socioeconomic field-study in Serbia where she worked with KMPG.
Jessica is originally from Seattle but hates the rain. She is very passionate about foreign languages and speaks French and Spanish fluently as well Italian, Serbo-Croatian and a bit of Slovenian with her family. Most of her spare time is spent in the gym, dancing salsa or trying out new vegan recipes.
Contact:
jessica@apolloexecutivesearch.com +33768340655

Contact

To explore a potential partnership for a search, please contact one of our Managing Partners (Peter Zeeuw van der Laan and / or Maarten van der Kwaak)

CONTACT FOR CANDIDATES

If you are a potential candidate for one of our open positions, please visit our candidate platform below

Aside from highlighting your profile, seeing and applying to vacancies on our platform, you can reach us at info@apolloexecutivesearch.com or call our front desk at +3197010286922

Our office adress:
Jachthavenweg 109-A
1081 KM Amsterdam
or call our front desk at +3197010286922

Please respect our policy that we do not engage into conversation with candidates cold calling one of our Managing Partners if there is no prior relationship. We share our phone numbers to allow potential clients make contact and explore a potential partnership for a search.

If you are a candidate looking for contact, please sign up to our platform. As a candidate with a specific question, you can email us at info@apolloexecutivesearch.com

FUNCTIONAL

Leadership positions

Investment roles

Non-executive board

Strategic positions

OUR TYPICAL CLIENTS

The Company we keep

We have successfully partnered for CEO, COO, CFO, CCO, CMO, CTO and strategy positions at