Prior to becoming a member of the House of Representatives, Bolkestein had a career in the private sector at Royal Dutch Shell and a number of consultancy firms.

Bolkestein was born on 13 March 1972 in the North Holland city Haarlem and grew up in the nearby villages Overveen and Bloemendaal.

[7] After completing his study, Bolkestein started working for oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell in The Hague.

[11] He became member of the Bloemendaal municipal council in March 2014 after the VVD received a plurality of five out of nineteen seats in the elections.

It was published by Uitgeverij Prometheus in February 2018 and describes the political turmoil in Bloemendaal and the problems local government is facing in general.

[20] Following municipal elections held on 16 March 2022, Bolkestein was selected as informateur to help form a governing coalition in Wassenaar.

[23] He joined the House of Representatives on 2 July 2020 because of his place on the party list after Bas van 't Wout had vacated his seat to become State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment.

[24] Within his party, Bolkestein's specialization was health care prevention and enforcement of laws surrounding prostitution and human trafficking.