Education
Jan van Stolk was born in 1920 in Santa Brigida (Canary Islands). His mother Sophie de Lerma and stephfather Luigi de Lerma both influenced him in his work. He was mostly self-taught.

Career
In 1952 he started his own studio, first in Nijmegen and since 1953 in Oosterbeek. In his long career he worked with and tutored (amongst others): Jaap Dommisse, Han Cornelissens and Wim Fiege.