Charles van Commenée

Charles van Commenée is renowned as the former Head Coach of British Athletics, who also spent time as the Technical Director of the Dutch Athletics Federation. As a decorated athletics coach, Charles has helped many of the World’s greatest athletes to achieve Olympic medals and World Championship titles. Having worked with athletes such as Denise Lewis, Jonathan Edwards and Ashia Hansen, Charles is now highly sought after as a motivational speaker covering topics such as how to build a high performance culture and teamwork for non-team players.

Following education in Physical Education at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Charles began his now illustrious career as a National Coach for the Netherlands Athletics Union, specialising in combined events and throws. His first major responsibility as a coach was for Huang Zhihong, who went on to claim Silver at the 1995 World Championships under Charles’ guidance. He later met Denise Lewis, whom he coached to win the 1998 Commonwealth Games and European Championship Heptathlons. She also claimed Silver at the 1999 World Championships and finally Gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Due to his success with these athletes, Charles was appointed as the Technical Director of British Athletics.

Later deciding to move to the Netherlands to accept the role of Performance Director of the Netherland Olympic Committee and Chef de Mission of the Netherlands Olympic Team, Charles was able to take the Netherlands to their second-highest medal tally at the 2008 Olympics. Upon his return to the UK, Charles was appointed as the National Head Coach of British Athletics, a role in which he worked until 2012. Since then, Charles has also worked as a Performance Consultant for the NOC NSF and the Head Coach of Dutch Athletics. Putting to use his 35 years of experience, Charles has since dedicated his career to performance coaching – working with clients such as Shell, Cap Gemini and EY. He has also authored his first book, released in Dutch in 2023, titled Handboek Topsports.

Utilising the skills he honed in elite sport coaching, Charles is now highly sought after as a motivational speaker – moulding top corporate client success stories. Having been inducted into the British Coaching Hall of Fame, as the first foreign coach to have been inducted, Charles is deemed a true role model in sports - something that makes Champions Speakers proud to be an official speaker agent of Charles Van Commenée. Nicknamed “the Volcano”, Charles is renowned for his no-nonsense approach to coaching, continually pushing past boundaries and striving for the ‘impossible’. Having also worked with clients such as McKinsey, Charles imparts his structured approach to performance management in a way that is translatable to business. If you are looking for a decorated coach who has a high success rate, don’t hesitate to hire Charles van Commenée today.

In recognition of his prowess as a leader and coach, Charles van Commenée has recently been named as one of the Top 10 Leadership Speakers to Engage Your Senior Leadership Team - a testament to the countless winning athletes under his careful leadership!