Gary van Bolderen is the President of Dutch Masters Construction Services Ltd.

Gary Van Bolderen lives in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.  Born in the Netherlands, he came to Canada with his parents in 1952 when he was four years old.  He grew up on a dairy and fruit farm near St. Catharines Ontario in the Niagara Pennisula region. His interest in farming led him to seek a future in agriculture through post secondary education at the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) at the University of Guelph.

Since graduating Gary has been involved in the farm building construction industry.

Gary is a charter member of the board of directors for the Canadian Farm Builders Association (CFBA) and has served as its President for two separate terms.  He has been recognized as Member of the Year for his volunteer services for the CFBA. He has served on many committees and continues to be a strong supporter of the Association’s work.  Gary has also served as a Board Member for the Council of Ontario Construction Associations (COCA) for several years.

In 1990 he decided to concentrate exclusively on the design and construction of horse facilities by establishing Dutch Masters Construction Services Ltd.. This was a direct response to a client’s request for a project management service to encompass all aspects in the design and construction of new horse facilities and farmstead infrastructure.

Dutch Masters Construction Services Ltd has become a leader in Southern Ontario in providing original designs and developing successful projects for horse farms from start to finish.  This leadership has been recognized by the farm building industry by awarding Dutch Masters the Master Builder Award and several Builder of the Year Awards by the CFBA.  These also included many Awards of Merit and Awards for Environmental Conservation. All these awards have been for horse barn projects.

Gary also created his own “Hankson” door design in response to the lack of a quality door system in the marketplace for use in horse barns.  

Gary has made presentations about the farm building industry at seminars, meetings and at trade conventions. He has also made presentations to students at college equestrian programs. Gary has written several media articles about topics concerning construction for the horse industry, as well as contributed to a book about horse management. He has also participated in continuing educational programs for ventilation, project supervision, health and safety, truss erection, quality assurance, concrete specifications, building codes, AutoCadd, and surveying.

Gary’s interests away from his beloved barns, has been his commitment to volunteering for and sponsoring of softball, hardball, hockey, ringette, and football. Gary has also served for many years on the Board of Directors for the Barrie and District Ass. for People with Special Needs, and as a Director on the Board of a local Credit Union.

Gary's wife, Kerry, passed away in 2008 from Lukemia.  She was a partner in the business and the heart of the family.  She was predeceased by their son Graham in 2004, who was taken by pneumonia at the age of 30.  in 2010, Greg joined the company after obtaining his Bachelors of Engineering (civil) degree from Lakehead University.  Gary's daughters are both busy with school: Trish at Ottawa University, and Deborah is a high school teacher in Barrie, Ontario.  

Dutch Masters remains a family business after more then twenty years of serving, exclusively, the horse industry.