He spent ten years of his childhood in the Carnotstraat [nl] area of the city, which is known for its large immigrant population, and later as a teenager moved to Mortsel, where he later served as a municipal councillor.

His father, Luc Van Grieken, is a retired police officer of the Belgian gendarmerie and his mother worked at a florist store.

He studied communications management at the Plantijn Hogeschool and worked in the advertising sector prior to entering politics full time.

He argues that the Flemish and Walloon regions have too many political and cultural differences which paralyzes the Belgian state and holds Flanders back from greater success.

"[12] Van Grieken has also cited riots by the Arab European League in 2002 which he personally witnessed and his father's career in law enforcement as influences on his political views.

[14] He publicly defended Trump multiple times and on many occasions accused the Flemish and European media of being biased against the United States president.

Even before publication, the book already caused a stir, due to the fact that professor of international politics Jonathan Holslag wrote the foreword.

In 2020, Van Grieken published And Now It's Up To Us, a biographical account of his leadership of VB to date and the journey he took of trying to rebuild the party and revive its support.