Piet Oudolf is a world-renowned Dutch garden designer, plantsman, nurseryman, and author widely regarded as the leading figure in the New Perennial movement.
His pioneering naturalistic planting style emphasises bold drifts of perennials and grasses chosen for structure, texture, movement, and long-season interest rather than short bursts of flower colour. His gardens evolve beautifully across seasons, looking striking even in winter through seed heads, stems, and faded foliage, while supporting biodiversity and requiring relatively low maintenance.
Quick Facts
- Full Name: Piet Oudolf
- Born: October 27, 1944
- Age: 81 years old
- Birthplace: Haarlem, Netherlands
- Nationality: Dutch
- Ethnicity: Dutch
- Occupation: Garden Designer, Plantsman, Nurseryman, Author
- Height: Unknown
- Religion: Unknown
- Spouse: Anja Oudolf
- Children: Unknown
- Relationship: Married
- Net Worth: $10 million
Early Life & Career Beginnings
Oudolf was born on 27 October 1944 in Haarlem, Netherlands. After his family moved to the countryside when he was five. After working in a fishery, steel factory, and garden centre, he turned to horticulture in his mid-20s.
In 1982, he and his wife Anja founded Oudolf Hummelo, a nursery and private garden in Hummelo, Gelderland, which became a global pilgrimage site for gardeners and designers. The nursery eventually closed, but the garden (which was partially open to the public in earlier years) remains one of the most influential modern gardens ever created.
Career
Piet Oudolf is widely regarded as one of the most influential landscape designers and plantsmen of the modern era and is considered a leading figure of the New Perennial and New Wave Planting movements. His approach to garden design transformed contemporary horticulture by focusing on naturalistic planting, biodiversity, seasonal structure, and the beauty found in every stage of a plant’s life cycle, including seed heads and winter decay. Rather than relying heavily on formal layouts or brightly coloured bedding displays, Oudolf’s work emphasises texture, movement, ecological balance, and long-term seasonal evolution.
Among his most celebrated projects is The High Line, the elevated urban park in New York City that helped redefine public landscape architecture after its redevelopment began in the mid-2000s. His planting design for the project became internationally recognised for blending wild-inspired perennial planting with urban infrastructure.
Another landmark project is Lurie Garden within Millennium Park, where Oudolf collaborated on a large-scale prairie-inspired garden reflecting the ecology and history of the American Midwest. His work has also played a major role at RHS Garden Wisley, where multiple planting schemes and perennial borders were developed across the 2010s and 2020s.
In the United Kingdom, Oudolf designed the gardens at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, combining contemporary art spaces with richly textured perennial landscapes. He has continued expanding his international influence through projects such as Calder Gardens, which opened in 2025, and the garden at Vandalorum Museum, completed in 2025. Another major upcoming project is the Planting Fields Oudolf Garden in New York, scheduled to open in 2026.
Beyond design work, Oudolf co-founded Future Plants, a company dedicated to selecting, breeding, evaluating, and protecting landscape plants suitable for naturalistic and ecological planting schemes. Through this work, he helped influence plant breeding trends and promoted the wider use of resilient perennial species in public and private landscapes.
Personal Life
Piet Oudolf has been married to Anja Oudolf for decades; she was his partner in running the Hummelo nursery and garden for many years.
They have lived and worked together in Hummelo since 1982. At 81, he remains active in garden design and continues to influence the field globally. He is known for his quiet, thoughtful demeanour and intuitive, visual approach to planting.
Net Worth (2026)
Piet Oudolf’s net worth is around $10 million. Landscape architects and garden designers of his stature rarely appear on wealth lists. His income has come from high-profile commissions. Given his 40+ year career and involvement in globally significant gardens, his professional earnings are substantial.