His father had a somewhat prosperous career as a notary and customs official and in 1592 obtained a position as Court Scribe to Pieter van Reigersbergh, the burgemeester (mayor) of the city of Veere in the province of Zeeland.

Six years later, Adriaen Valerius was named the Toll and Customs Controller for Veere, starting a prosperous career as both a burgher and a patrician of his city.

A poet of not inconsiderable talent, Valerius worked on the great Zeelander compendium Zeeusche Nachtegael with a number of other poet-colleagues.

The work, steeped in Protestant moralization and chiliastic attitudes, was both anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish and was studied in Zeeland both at home and Church as part of familial religious edification.

[1] Valerius' historical significance lies neither in his poetry's artistic expression, which was stunted and often bare, nor in the originality of his work, which is often viewed as derivative.