He was a pupil of Carl Oberstadt (who was in turn a student of Robert and Clara Schumann) at the Royal College of Music in The Hague, Netherlands.
Following several years of teaching in Europe, during which van Katwijk had begun to develop a reputation as a fine teacher, he came to the United States in 1912.
In 1918 van Katwijk accepted the post of head of the piano department at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
A great number of van Katwijk's students had successful professional musical careers as soloists and teachers.
Paul van Katwijk was called "a most remarkable pianist" by the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.