Rob Swartbol is Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Slovak Republic since 11 September 2006. 

He was born on 11 January 1964 in The Hague. After obtaining his master’s degree in Political Science at the Erasmus university in Rotterdam and serving in the Dutch army for 18 months, Rob Swartbol started his diplomatic career in 1989. 

After serving as a trade secretary in Sofia, Bulgaria, and as assistant spokesman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 1995 he became Private Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

From 1998 to 2002, he was head of the Political Department at the Netherlands Embassy in Washington, DC.

In the summer of 2002 he was appointed as Foreign Policy and Defence Advisor to the Prime Minister. He served in that capacity until his departure for Bratislava.

Rob Swartbol is married to Jacqueline and they have two sons.