He was best known for the large number of songs he wrote for popular children programs and his accessible, straightforward poetry.

Wilmink was born in Enschede and studied Dutch and history at the University of Amsterdam.

His first publication was in 1966: Brief van een Verkademeisje (Eng: "letter from a Verkade girl").

[1] From 1970, he formed a writers' collective, together with Karel Eijkman, Hans Dorrestijn, Ries Moonen, Fetze Pijlman and Jan Riem.

While never really well-known as a performing artist, though he sang and played accordion, a lot of Dutch people know Wilmink's songs.