He attended a mavo high school and studied business administration at hbo level, earning an SPD-I degree.

[4] Raven also chaired the local elderly organization KBO St. Augustinus and coached a futsal team of ZVV Awt-Gelaen.

[6] Two weeks earlier, he had been celebrating handball club Vlug en Lenig winning the national championship at a bar until the police stopped the party after several complaints at around 5 AM.

According to eyewitnesses, a drunken Raven resisted the removal of the approximately fifty partygoers the most and called the police officers names.

[11] This occurred almost a year after Raven had announced that he was thinking about joining the party Trots op Nederland because of his ambition to become a national politician.

[16] Shortly thereafter – in May 2014 – Raven wrongfully accused Mayor Sjraar Cox of being biased towards his party during the formation of the new executive.

During the campaign, Raven had proposed starting a regional cooperation with nearby Belgian and German towns in order to be eligible for subsidies from the European Union.

[20] Raven left the council to become alderman of finances, businesses, sport, and mobility in February 2020, when a new coalition was formed.

In January 2021, Senator Gerben Gerbrandy left the body due to the workload of serving in a one-man caucus, leading to the appointment of Raven as his replacement.

[24] In December 2021, he pled for a one-time financial compensation for retirees, as pensions had not been indexed since 2009, and he started an online petition.

[26][27][28] A few weeks later, caucus leader Nancy Kaufmann left the party in favor of the CDA due to a personal conflict with Raven about a possible participation in the coalition.

[1][35] Since 2011, Raven has been a baritone in the men's choir Mignon and a drummer in the local marksmen's club Marcellinus en Petrus.