T.R. "Tjapko" Poppens (born 31 July 1970) is a Dutch politician serving as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, with a population of 95,996 as of 202 ...

since 2019. A member of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD), he previously served as mayor of

Wijk bij Duurstede Wijk bij Duurstede () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the central Netherlands. Population centres *Cothen *Langbroek *Wijk bij Duurstede Topography ''Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Wijk bij Du ...

from 2012 until 2019.

Career

Poppens was born and grew up in the province of

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. He graduated in Economics of Agriculture and Environment at

Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as WUR) is a public university, public research university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally i ...

with a major in business and administration. He worked at

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

and became subsequently a corporate staff director of the municipality of

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

. From 2005 until 2012 he was a VVD councillor in

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

, leading the VVD group since 2007. In 2015 he also became chairman of the Dutch brewers, as successor of

Hans Wiegel Hans Wiegel (; 16 July 1941 – 19 May 2025) was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman. Wiegel studied Law at the University of Amsterdam before switching to Political science obtaining a Bache ...

.RTL Nieuws website
/ref> Tjapko Poppens is married and father of three children.

References

1970 births Living people 21st-century Dutch civil servants Mayors in Utrecht (province) Mayors of Amstelveen Municipal councillors in Overijssel People from Deventer People from Wijk bij Duurstede People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Wageningen University and Research alumni {{Netherlands-politician-stub