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On 26 April, Professor Emeritus Berend Olivier was surprised with the royal honour of Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in his home town of Lelystad. He was granted the high honour due to his exceptionally important and multifaceted service as a researcher in the field of neurological and psychiatric diseases, and the development of medication to treat them. He has also earned international renown, as shown by his appointment as Assistant Professor in Pre-Clinical Psychiatry at Yale ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ in the United States, and by the American Psychiatric Association naming him a Distinguished Affiliate Member of the Division of Psychopharmacology and Drug Abuse.

Prof. Berend Olivier developed from a biologist to a behavioural pharmacologist with an extremely thorough approach. He played a leading role in innovative successes, both in established pharmaceutical firms and in an American biotech startup in the field of pharmacogenetics. His interest and expertise spanned an exceptionally broad range of neurological and psychiatric conditions, varying from depressions to Parkinson’s disease. With his enthusiasm, didactic gifts and personal commitment, he has inspired many of his students and other researchers to make their own contributions to pharmacological research and pharmaceutical care for patients.

Serotonin

Olivier studied Biology in Groningen in the 1970s, where he began research on the then-almost-unknown substance serotonin, a signal chemical in the brain that plays a role in many neurological processes, including memory, mood, sexuality and sleep. The secretion, uptake and reuptake of serotonin by the brain, and the control of that process, has been a major theme throughout his career.

Fluvoxamine

At his first job at Philips-Duphar, later Solvay Pharmaceuticals, a team under his leadership developed the anti-depressant fluvoxamine. This was the first medication that inhibited the reuptake of serotonin that was successfully brought to market. Fluvoxamine is still prescribed to patients around the world suffering from depression, phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Olivier is one of the few Dutch pharmaceutical researchers whose medication has reached the market.

Agression

At Solvay, Olivier also studied the biological basis for aggression, despite the fact that the idea of a ‘biological basis’ was then a topic of bitter debate. His research resulted in a new class of pharmaceuticals, serenics, for the clinical treatment of psychiatric patients with pathologically destructive and aggressive behaviour. However, these pharmaceuticals have never been registered, because pathological aggression has not been recognised as a symptom. 

Startup

In 1992, Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ appointed Olivier to the post of part-time Professor of Pharmacotherapy of the Central Nervous System. In 1999, he moved on from Solvay to the biotech startup PsychoGenics in New York. There, he led the development of new pre-clinical animal models for neurological diseases, the screening of new psychopharmaceuticals for pharmaceutical companies and the development of the Smartcube, an automated system for quickly determining the effects of a large number of substances on the behaviour of mice.

Research Director

Olivier was made fulltime Professor at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ in 2001, and he served in that post until 2014. In that time, he supervised more than 35 doctoral candidates and published more than 500 scientific articles. He also served as the Director of the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences for six years, where he gave decisive direction to innovation in research.

Modest

Despite countless expressions of prestigious national and international acclaim, such as his appointment at Yale ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, his Honorary Membership in the American Psychological Association, his Distinguished Affiliate Membership in the American Psychiatric Association’s Division of Psychopharmacology and Drug Abuse and the respected Senior Dr. Saal van Zwanenberg Prize, Olivier has always remained an extremely modest, amicable, warm and committed person.