Mathijs was born in Geleen, The Netherlands, and still lives there. He graduated from Hogeschool Zuyd in 2003 where he studied information technology. Before becoming a writer in 2012, Mathijs has been independent in all his endeavors, he worked for multinational Philips, communication technology company Royal KPN, and pension fund investor APG (3rd largest in the world) as an IT specialist. Mathijs also owned a business for four years, again specializing in IT. In 2009 Mathijs started working on a new scouting method for a professional sports organization, which was based on defining measurable metrics and statistical analyses, the culmination of which was a noticeable increase in attendance and overall scoring ability. In 2012, driven by a keen interest in science and technology, Mathijs decided to switch to writing about energy and climate change. His prime motivation for writing about these matters comes from a sense of responsibility, to leave this planet a better place than he found it.