He worked in a wide variety of countries, but had special interest in the Northern part of the Netherlands and especially his home province of Drenthe.

[6] Since Waterbolk had signed the Loyaliteitsverklaring [nl] during World War II, he was prevented from taking exams until 1948.

[1][2] After obtaining his PhD Waterbolk was appointed professor of archaeology at the University of Groningen the same year and he succeeded Albert Egges van Giffen in this position.

[1] During his career he performed excavations in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Syria (Bouqras), Serbia (Vojvodina) and Turkey.

He had a special interest in the Northern Netherlands and the province of Drenthe where he led excavations in Odoorn, Elp and Gasselte.

[9] In the 1960s Vermaning stated that he had found stone tools, which were dated back to thousands of years by Waterbolk.

[10] The case caused a deterioration in the relations between academic and amateur archaeologists in the Northern Netherlands and led to death threats against Waterbolk and Stapert.

[12][13] In 2015 the book Werk van Eeuwen by Jos Bazelmans en Jan Kolen, describing conversations with Waterbolk was published.

[6] Waterbolk was married to a botanical analyst, he met his wife at the Nederlandse Jeugdbond voor Natuur.