Early life Van Aardenne was the son of a surgeon and studied mathematics and physics at
Leiden University. After his studies he was employed at a steel factory in
Dordrecht, becoming its general manager from 1967 to 1971.
Politics He joined the
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) in 1958 and was a Member of Parliament between 1971 and 1977, and again in 1981. He became minister of economic affairs in the
First Van Agt cabinet (1977–81).
Nuclear energy and problems in the shipbuilding industry were prominent issues during these years. He took the same post as well as Deputy Prime Minister in the first
First Lubbers cabinet (1982–1986). He got into political trouble for downplaying the financial struggles of the
Rijn-Schelde-Verolme shipyard, which would collapse in 1983 in spite of many years of large financial support from the government. For this reason he was omitted from the 1986 Lubbers cabinet. Van Aardenne remained politically active, amongst others acting in the
formation of the first
Kok cabinet in 1994 and rejecting the post of minister of finances in that. By then he had been diagnosed with
ALS, which resulted in him needing to use a wheel chair. He died from ALS in 1995. ==Decorations==