[1] Nicolaas Rockox was born in de Keizerstraat in Antwerp as the oldest son of Adriaan II and Isabella van Olmen.

Rockox was a nephew of John III van de Werve, Lord of Hovorst and a first cousin of Lancelot II of Ursel, mayor of Antwerp.

After his father died when Nicolaas was only 10, his mother and other family members ensured that he and his two younger brothers received an advanced education.

At the time, Antwerp had a Calvinist administration under the leadership of the mayor Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde and was in open revolt against the Catholic Spanish rulers of the Habsburg Netherlands.

His wife was a neighbor in the Keizerstraat and the daughter of the wealthy merchant and banker Luis Perez (1532–1601) and Maria van Berchem.

Other friends of Rockox included Abraham Ortelius, who taught him the art of numismatics, and the young Anthony van Dyck, who painted several portraits for him.

[4] He died in the Gulden Rinck and was buried in the church of the Recollect convent, where he had a private chapel built for his deceased wife in 1619.

Rockox commissioned Frans Francken (II) to make a painting of his art chamber (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich).

[6] Rockox was also an avid coin collector and kept a detailed catalague annotated in his own hand (Museum Meermanno, The Hague).

He corresponded with Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc, the renowned French humanist, botanist and numismatist who was also a friend of Rubens.