[1][2] He was a close advisor to prime ministers Wim Kok, Jan Peter Balkenende, and Mark Rutte, leading newspaper NRC to call him a "hidden force of the Dutch government".
[2] Van Zwol chairs the supervisory board of the Dutch branch of accounting firm EY, and he led the State Commission on Demographic Developments 2050, which published its conclusions in January 2024.
[3][6] On 20 March 2024 – as part of the 2023–2024 Dutch cabinet formation – PVV leader Geert Wilders selected Van Zwol to serve as informateur alongside Elbert Dijkgraaf.
They were tasked with investigating a governing coalition with a concise agreement between the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB as recommended by their predecessor Kim Putters within eight weeks.
[7][8] Van Zwol and Dijkgraaf managed to successfully facilitate the formation of a coalition, and they handed the agreement titled "Hope, Courage, and Pride" to the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the night of 16 May 2024 – two hours after the expiration of their deadline.