Willem was born in the city of Leiden, the son of the important philologist Pieter Hendricksz Schrijver, aka Petrus Scriverius, and his wife Anna van der Aar.
[1] Willem grew up in Amsterdam and held various positions in the city, becoming a lieutenant in the citizen guard in 1651 and a captain in 1653.
[1] In 1645, Willem married the extremely wealthy patrician daughter Wendela de Graeff, daughter of burgomaster Jacob Dircksz de Graeff and Aaltje Boelens Loen and widow of Pieter van Papenbroek.
In 1655/56, Willem commissioned Rembrandt the painting Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph, which depicts his father Petrus, himself (as Joseph) with his wife Wendela and their two sons from her first and second marriage as biblical characters.
Alongside his brothers-in-law Pieter Trip and Andries de Graeff, he is the first of the three figures standing on the roadside to the right of center.