As the president of the New Guinea Council was the Dutch civil servant Frits Sollewijn Gelpke, Jouwe was the highest ranking Papuan politician in the colony.

Among the school students were Frans Kaisiepo, Lukas Rumkoren, Yan Waromi, Cornelis Krey, Marthen Indey, Silas Papare, G. Saweri, Samuel D. Kawab.

[5] After Frans Kaisiepo used his participation in Malino Conference to popularise the name "Irian", Dutch authorities did not send any Papuan representative in the follow-up Denpasar Conference which was held from 7–24 December 1946, even though on 12 December 1946, Nicolaas Jouwe, Marthen Indey, and Corinus Krey protested this decision and sent a telegram to van Mook in Denpasar to oppose the formation of the State of East Indonesia as Western New Guinea was not eventually included under pressure of Dutch Catholic Party, although van Mook claimed that financial and ethnic issues were the reason.

In 1962, After the colony was ceded to the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority in October 1962 and subsequently to Indonesia six months later, he left New Guinea for the Netherlands, where he settled in the town of Delft.

[14] In a lunch that was held for Mark Davies on 12 May 2014, Australian journalist of SBS, Jouwe stated "I am a leader of the National Liberation Council of West Papua.

"[2] On 13 August 2014, Nicolaas Jouwe alongside Ondofolo Franzalbert Joku former OPM foreign minister, Nicholas Simione Messet former OPM diplomat in Sweden, Priest Lipiyus Biniluk, Contant Karma former vice governor and regional secretary, received an award from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in the form of Bintang Jasa Nararya, while former governor Abraham Octavianus Atururi received Bintang Mahaputera Utama.