Henk Ovink is the founding Commissioner and Executive Director for the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. He was the first global water ambassador, appointed in 2015 by the Dutch Cabinet as Special Envoy for International Water Affairs. As Ambassador to the UN on Water he led the second UN Water Conference in 2023, the first since 1977. Henk is also the Chair of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Board of Governors.

Henk served on President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force where he led the long-term innovation, resilience, and rebuilding efforts and developed and led the groundbreaking ‘Rebuild by Design’ competition. Before joining the Task Force Ovink was both 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.

Henk holds an honorary doctorate at Delft University, is associate professor at the University of Groningen in Climate Adaptation and Water Management and visiting fellow at Professor Mariana Mazzucato’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at UCL London. In 2023 Henk Ovink was the 10th recipient of the Foreign Affairs Decoration of Honor in Gold for his global leadership on water diplomacy.