Oskar Verkamman

Oskar Verkamman: besides being an entrepreneur and executive searcher / managing director at Inspired-Search, I am, of course, above all human. I am married to my childhood sweetheart Anja and father of son Lars and daughter Daphne. Busy life in international supply chains at companies such as Dell, Lenovo and Inspired-Search have fortunately never got in the way of my family life and adventurous passions.

Sports are a part of my life, I regularly run half marathons and can be found at the Crossfit box twice a week. But my real passion lies in outdoor adventure activities. For more than 15 years, I flew my paraglider in the French Alps and occasionally in the rural areas of India. However, I don’t consider myself an adrenaline junkie. It’s the love, complexity and intelligent challenges of flying. Questions that keep me constantly busy: are the take-off conditions right, is my equipment in good order, where can I find thermals, what are the air flows, where can I land and how do I feel today? Flying without a motor on a parachute is most like a three-dimensional game of chess. There is no room for side issues while flying.

In recent years, flying has had to give way somewhat to my other passion: long-distance solo motorbike travel. In 2019, I followed the ancient logistic silk route from the Netherlands all the way to the border with China. Three months on the road through countries like Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. A monster ride through the high mountains on the border with Afghanistan with plenty of great encounters.

More recently (2022), I toured the Middle East by motorbike in three months, again from the Netherlands and solo, crossing Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Oman, among others. Endless deserts and lots of time for self-reflection. Sleeping in a tent in the desert and being completely on your own. Again, beautiful, wonderful and often moving encounters with people.

I wrote the book “De man aan de overkant – Oskar Verkamman” about the first trip and give regular lectures about the trips.

Apart from the fact that outdoor activities like flying and motorcycling give me a lot of pleasure, it has also helped me in my personal development. Taking responsibility for your own actions and taking decisions under pressure have brought me a lot. All in all, I think it has given me a certain amount of stability. In addition, the many encounters and other cultures have given me the insight that not everything can be taken for granted. Much of what we consider our ‘successes’ are a sum of luck factors: where were you born, what genes/intelligence/qualities did you get and so on. In addition, I have gained a rock-solid faith in individual human beings. As Rutger Bregman says: “Most people are virtuous”.