The final stanza of his opera Trijn de Begijn eventually became the local anthem of Maastricht.

Olterdissen was born to a German father and a mother from the province of Zeeland and grew up speaking Dutch, only learning the Maastricht dialect socially.

In 1883 he moved to Amsterdam to attend the Rijksschool voor de Kunstnijverheid in order to develop his abilities in painting.

Olterdissen's lack of business skill led him to gather a significant debt which he tried to alleviate by writing plays and operettas.

This is the text of the final stanza of Trijn de Begijn, which was adopted in 2002 as the official anthem of the city of Maastricht by its municipal government .