Wilders was born on 6 September 1963 in the city of Venlo, in the province of Limburg.
He is the youngest of four children, and was raised Catholic.
He was born to a Dutch father and a mother born in colonial Indonesia, whose background was mixed Dutch and Indonesian.
His father worked as a manager for the printing and copying manufacturing company Océ, and had hidden from the Germans during the Second World War, an experience so traumatizing that he refused to physically enter Germany even forty years later.

Wilders received his secondary education at the Mavo and Havo middle school and high school in Venlo.
Reflecting passions that came to the fore later in his career, Wilders took a course in health insurance at the Stichting Opleiding Sociale Verzekeringen in Amsterdam and earned several law certificates at the Dutch Open University.

Wilders' goal after he graduated from secondary school was to see the world.
Because he did not have enough money to travel to Australia, his preferred destination, he went to Israel instead and volunteered for a year in a moshav, Tomer, on the West Bank.
With the money he saved, he travelled to the neighbouring Arab countries, and was moved by the lack of democracy in the region, due to the conflicts at the time.
When he returned to the Netherlands, he retained Israeli ideas about counter-terrorism and a "special feeling of solidarity" for the country.

Living in Utrecht, Wilders initially worked in the health insurance industry.
His interest in the subject led him into politics as a speech-writer for the Netherlands' People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.
He started his formal political career as a parliamentary assistant to the party leader Frits Bolkestein, specialising in foreign policy.
He held this job from 1990 to 1998.
During this time Geert Wilders travelled extensively, visiting countries all across the Middle East, including Iran, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Israel.
Bolkestein was the first Dutch politician to address the consequences of mass immigration for Dutch society, including a sharp criticism of Muslim immigrants.
He set an example for Wilders not only in his ideas but also in his confrontational speaking style.
Political analyst Anno Bunnik later described Wilders as a "sorcerer's apprentice" to Bolkestein.
Wilders was born on 6 September 1963 in the city of Venlo, in the province of Limburg. He is the youngest of four children, and was raised Catholic. He was born to a Dutch father and a mother born in colonial Indonesia, whose background was mixed Dutch and Indonesian. His father worked as a manager for the printing and copying manufacturing company Océ, and had hidden from the Germans during the Second World War, an experience so traumatizing that he refused to physically enter Germany even forty years later.
Wilders received his secondary education at the Mavo and Havo middle school and high school in Venlo. Reflecting passions that came to the fore later in his career, Wilders took a course in health insurance at the Stichting Opleiding Sociale Verzekeringen in Amsterdam and earned several law certificates at the Dutch Open University.
Wilders' goal after he graduated from secondary school was to see the world. Because he did not have enough money to travel to Australia, his preferred destination, he went to Israel instead and volunteered for a year in a moshav, Tomer, on the West Bank. With the money he saved, he travelled to the neighbouring Arab countries, and was moved by the lack of democracy in the region, due to the conflicts at the time. When he returned to the Netherlands, he retained Israeli ideas about counter-terrorism and a "special feeling of solidarity" for the country.
Living in Utrecht, Wilders initially worked in the health insurance industry. His interest in the subject led him into politics as a speech-writer for the Netherlands' People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. He started his formal political career as a parliamentary assistant to the party leader Frits Bolkestein, specialising in foreign policy. He held this job from 1990 to 1998. During this time Geert Wilders travelled extensively, visiting countries all across the Middle East, including Iran, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Israel. Bolkestein was the first Dutch politician to address the consequences of mass immigration for Dutch society, including a sharp criticism of Muslim immigrants. He set an example for Wilders not only in his ideas but also in his confrontational speaking style. Political analyst Anno Bunnik later described Wilders as a "sorcerer's apprentice" to Bolkestein.
Geert Wilders