Heleen van Royen is born on 9 March 1965 in Slotervaart, Amsterdam, as Helena Margaretha Kroon. In 1983 she graduates from high school. In 1984 she gains admission to the School voor de Journalistiek (School for Journalism) in Utrecht, where she graduates in 1987. After college she works as a freelancer for the Haarlems Dagblad, as a reporter for Radio Noord-Holland and as a freelancer for several magazines.

Review in The Independent
Article in Time Magazine