Building on this experience, he gained a leadership position with the Association for Wasteland Redevelopment, in which capacity he oversaw several land reclamation projects.

As a member of the Christian Historical Union, he was elected to the House of Representatives on 7 November 1922; he served there for almost fifteen years and chaired several committees – including one that assessed the costs and benefits of the ongoing Zuiderzee Works.

Lovink, who was primarily self-taught, was recognized with two honourary doctorate degrees as well as membership in the Orders of the Netherlands Lion and the Orange-Nassau.

[1] He oversaw a period of growth, developing a larger German-trained workforce and bringing the association to greater prominence through a series of public lectures.

[2][3] Under Lovink's leadership, the association worked on reclaiming the Peel, captured drifting sands near Kootwijk, and afforested areas near Schoorl and Texel.

There, he made the acquaintance of Minister Johannes Christiaan de Marez Oyens, who in 1901 appointed Lovink the Director General of Agriculture,[2] replacing Cornelis Jacob Sickesz.

[7] Lovink remained in this position until 1909,[8] when he was appointed by Governor-General Alexander Idenburg to replace Melchior Treub as the Director of the Department of Agriculture, Industry, and Trade of the Dutch East Indies.

[2][8] He led a commission tasked with a cost-benefit evaluation of the Zuiderzee Works, concluding in a 1924 report that the project would have greater benefits than anticipated.

[8] Between 1 May 1923 and 1 September 1933, concurrently with his membership in the House of Representatives, Lovink served as the mayor of Alphen aan den Rijn.

[15][16] Lovink married Leida Aalders, whom he met at a music club in her native Zutphen, on 27 September 1893;[2] she died on 25 March 1925.

[16] His younger son, Tony, served as the High Commissioner of the Crown in the Dutch East Indies; he was the last person to occupy this colonial role before it was abolished following the Netherlands' recognition of Indonesian independence.

Commissioned in 1940 with funds collected by a committee led by J. C. A. M. van de Mortel, the 3.3-metre (11 ft) monument is located in front of the Association for Wasteland Redevelopment Building in Arnhem.

[2] The namesake H. J. Lovink Pumping Station, designed by the architect Dirk Roosenburg, began operation in Dronten in September 1956.