Elanor Boekholt-O'Sullivan

Elanor Boekholt-O'Sullivan (born 23 February 1976) is an Irish-Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) and former military officer of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Since 23 February 2026, she has served as minister of Housing and Spatial Planning in the Jetten cabinet. Boekholt-O'Sullivan previously served as commander of the Defence Cyber Command from 2018 to 2020, as deputy commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force from 2020 to 2022, and as deputy director-general at the Ministry of Defence from 2022 to 2026.

Early life Elanor O'Sullivan was born in Cork, Ireland to an Irish father and a Dutch mother. At the end of 2007, Boekholt-O'Sullivan was deployed to Afghanistan for five months. There, she worked as a project leader for the reconstruction of the country's civil aviation infrastructure.

In 2018, she handed over command of Eindhoven Air Base to her husband, Harold Boekholt. His appointment drew attention because she left behind several controversial dossiers, including issues involving the transport of hazardous materials, a whistleblower case concerning flight safety, and a matter related to financial integrity. There was concern that her husband might later have to judge her actions in these cases, potentially placing him in a difficult position.

On 1 July 2018, at age 42, Boekholt-O'Sullivan was promoted to commodore. Four days later, she succeeded Hans Folmer as commander of the Defence Cyber Command. In this role, she became responsible for the Netherlands' digital defence, including cyber operations involving intelligence gathering and offensive capabilities. At the time of her promotion, the Netherlands Armed Forces had only one other female air officer, Madelein Spit.

Boekholt-O'Sullivan was promoted again in 2020, becoming a major general and serving as deputy commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. In May 2022, she was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the first woman in Dutch military history to hold this rank. She assumed the role of deputy director-general of the Directorate-General for Policy within the Ministry of Defence.

Political career On 9 February 2026, it was announced that the Democrats 66 (D66) had nominated Boekholt-O'Sullivan for the position of minister for Housing and Spatial Planning in the incoming Jetten cabinet. They have two children.

Honours and awards