Willem Oltmans

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 was an actor, known for JFK (1991), De 100% ab show (2002) and Dit was het nieuws (1996).

In the 1980s Oltmans endeavoured to create a more balanced opinion in the West about the Soviet Union. Looking for a more poised perspective on the one sided bad image of the evil empire's communist power, he often traveled to Russia. Together with the Kremlin's foreign expert Georgi Arbatov, he wrote the book 'The Soviet position', elaborating on Moscow's perspective on the East-West issues in 1981. The book received much attention and was published in several languages.

On 29 March 1977, De Mohrenschildt was found dead due to an apparent self-inflicted shotgun wound via the mouth. L. Richardson Preyer of the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigating the assassination of Kennedy stated that De Mohrenschildt was "a crucial witness, based on the new information that he had". A few days later, Oltmans told the HSCA that de Mohrenschildt had implicated himself in the conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. And Pat S. Russell, who was De Mohrenschildt's attorney said "I definitely feel there was a conspiracy and that definitely was the opinion of George." Oltmans testified for three hours behind closed doors and told the committee that De Mohrenschildt told him he had discussed the assassination of Kennedy with Lee Harvey Oswald from A to Z. "De Mohrenschildt told me that Oswald acted at his (De Mohrenschildt's) instructions and that he knew Oswald was going to kill Kennedy," Oltmans said. Although Oltmans had given information to the Committee shortly before, De Mohrenschildt's death had released Oltmans from his promise not to divulge certain information. Oltmans revealed that De Mohrenschildt, whom he had known for ten years, had told him that there had been a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy and that he had played a role in the conspiracy. De Mohrenschildt said that CIA and FBI personnel were involved as well.

Oltmans was based in the USA in the 1960s, where he worked as a reporter for Dutch TV broadcaster NOS and established ties to President Kennedy's closest circle of advisors. After Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, Oltmans interviewed the mother of accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, Marguerite. Further investigation led him to Oswald's acquaintance George de Mohrenschildt. On 15 October 1967, Oltmans interviewed the de Mohrenschildts for NOS which resulted in a 40 minute film that was the only full-length filmed interview of George de Mohrenschildt. However, the film, which was kept at Hilversum, disappeared in 1975. In 1977 De Mohrenschildt agreed to disclose information to Oltmans, but disappeared from their meeting place and was found dead in Florida a few weeks later.

Due to the ban imposed on him by Minister Luns, Oltmans was forced to help support himself through his family's inheritance; the death of his parents (1966 and 1974) and some bad investments caused him financial difficulty. In the late eighties he intended to use his large global network as a consultant to introduce entrepreneurs to Eastern European business opportunities. Through a string of quarrels with his stakeholders this initiative failed completely and Oltmans left for South Africa.

Due to the highly critical stance he often took towards Dutch foreign policy, as of 1956 the Dutch government conspired to keep him out of work. A lengthy lawsuit (1991–2000) involving the Royal family led to the state having to pay him damages.

Both his brothers had settled in South Africa in 1948. He had visited the country regularly and in 1990 decided to settle there permanently. In South Africa he continued his tendency of actively intervening in local politics. His investigative reporting was not appreciated by the shaky South African regime of the time and in August 1992 he was deported on charges of espionage. Oltmans always insisted the Dutch Security Service was involved in his deportation.

He studied at Nyenrode Business University (1946) and Yale University (1948), without graduating. Originally intent 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 freelance reporter in Rome in 1956. There he befriended Indonesian president Sukarno, which started his career as a controversial journalist.

Willem Oltmans was born on June 10, 1925 in Huizen, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.