Wouter Boelen
Portrait of Wouter Boelen
Based in
Vorselaar, Belgium
Age
38

Wouter Boelen

Budoka, software engineer & cyclist

I’m a budoka first: Shihan in the Hakkō Ryū style of jūjutsu, teaching at our dojo in Vorselaar. Precision, patience and a habit of breaking hard things into learnable pieces: that carries into everything else I do.

By trade I’m a software engineer turned people lead. I spent over fifteen years building C++ and C# systems where correctness isn’t optional: in maritime navigation, electronic payments, and supply-chain planning. These days I invest most of that energy in growing the team around me.

Away from the mat and the keyboard, I’m usually on a bike, writing my book, or messing with small personal projects at home.

Get in touch

Email me → or wouter [at] wboelen [dot] be

Book · 2026

Loslaten

De onzichtbare kracht van Hakkō Ryū Jūjutsu

My book on Hakkō Ryū Jūjutsu, built around its three guiding principles: don't provoke, offer no resistance, do no harm. It weaves together the history and philosophy behind the techniques, and explains them in a way that is accessible to both martial artists and non-practitioners alike.

Read it at hakko.wboelen.be → Written in Dutch

Experience

OMP

Wommelgem, Belgium · Jul 2019 – Present

Supply chain planning software vendor. Grew from ERP integration engineering into technical leadership and people management.

  1. Development Manager — VCT Integration: People Jan 2026 – Present

    People lead for a team of 30+ software engineers, software architects and analysts, responsible of the integration of OMP's supply chain planning solution with external ERP systems.

  2. Software Expert, Product Development Jan 2025 – Feb 2026
  3. Senior Software Engineer Jan 2022 – Feb 2025

    Coaching a team implementing agile development methodologies.

  4. Software Engineer Jul 2019 – Dec 2021

    Integration of the OMP supply chain planning software with third-party ERP systems such as SAP.

Dover Fueling Solutions

Turnhout, Belgium · Nov 2016 – Jul 2019
  1. Software Engineer Nov 2016 – Jul 2019
    • Electronic payment solutions for petrol stations in C++: EMV and contactless payment, point-to-point encryption (SRED), PCI-DSS compliance.
    • Microsoft Azure cloud client-side development in C#.
    • Designed and implemented a dynamic data routing and access layer in a distributed service-oriented architecture.

Periskal

Wuustwezel, Belgium · Sep 2009 – Oct 2016
  1. Lead Programmer — Navigation Software Sep 2009 – Oct 2016
    • Maintained and extended navigation systems for inland shipping, maritime vessels and fishing trawlers (Periskal ECDIS, Inland ECDIS Viewer, Radar Overlay, ChartWorx QuodFish and TheMap).
    • Led development and type approval of a maritime ECDIS system.
    • Implemented shore-based AIS tracking networks on several international RIS projects.

Johnson & Johnson — Janssen Pharmaceutica

Beerse, Belgium · Mar 2009 – Jun 2009
  1. Intern Mar 2009 – Jun 2009

    Built the "Rat Brain Separator": a digital image processing algorithm that isolates the brains of up to four individual rats in three-dimensional PET scans.

Education

Skills

Languages & platforms

  • C++
  • C#
  • .NET
  • Azure

Domains

  • ERP integration
  • Supply chain planning
  • Electronic payments (EMV, contactless)
  • ECDIS for maritime & inland navigation

Ways of working

  • People leadership
  • Scrum master
  • Team coaching
  • Agile development
  • T-shaped software engineering

Spoken languages

  • Dutch — native
  • English — full professional