Jonathan van Bilsen
Jonathan has spent most of his adult life travelling, photographing and writing about wonderful locations around the world. He has had the privilege of visiting 107 countries, written 14 books, countless articles and has photographed some of the most exotic locales on our planet.​
For the past five years Jonathan has been the host of photosNtravel, a television show, which takes viewers to different settings around the world, each of which he has personally visited.
Jonathan is also the host of The Jonathan van Bilsen Show, now in season five. In this half hour program, he interviews compelling guests from our community and the surrounding area.
He currently writes a weekly column and 2 monthly features for magazines and newspapers, taking readers all over the world and sharing his adventures and sometimes calamities in many different lands.
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Jonathan’s sense of humour and storytelling ability makes him an excellent speaker at events and meetings. He has spoken to groups as large as 1,500 and as small as 20 in faraway places like Hawaii and Paris, as well as close to home.​
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Consider Jonathan van Bilsen as a guest speaker or master of ceremonies at your group or club’s next event. His adventures, packed with award-winning photographs will open a new window to the world.
Awards & Achievements
Awards
• Recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award
• Recipient of the 'Entrepreneur of the Year Award'
• Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal of Honour
• Prestigious Patron of the Arts Award,
• ‘Best’ Photography Studio in North Durham (14 years in a row)
• Ontario Heritage award
• Elected to the Mayor’s Honour Roll
• Honoured by Canada’s Minister of Veterans Affairs and
leader of the official opposition
• Recipient of International Travel News '100+ Nations'
Award
• Received the esteemed 'Visited all of Europe' award
• Member of the 'Phileas Fogg' Award (in recognition of
travelling to the same nations as the character in the
Jules Verne novel 'Around the World in 80 Days'
• The 'Travelled to Six Continents' award
• Recipient of the admired 'Shellback' award celebrating
the crossing of the equator, the international dateline
and the zero meridian
• Recipient of the ' All Provinces and Territories' award for
Canada
Achievements
CURRENT
• Board of Directors for the Assante Wealth Management
Advisory Board (4 years)
• Recipient of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal
• Member of the Port Perry Photographic Society
• Member of the Travellers' Century Club - more than 100
countries visited
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PAST
• Member of the Township of Scugog Heritage Advisory
Committee
• Board of Directors for Canadian Deafblind Rubella
Association (10 years)
• Board of Directors for Junior Achievement of Central
Ontario (4 years)
• Founder and President of the North Durham
Photographers Association
• 'M' Magazine photograph of the year Award
• Chair of the Kent Farndale Art Gallery (7 Years)
• Chair of the Kent Farndale Bursary for the Arts (6 years)
• Recipient of the Patron of the Arts Award
• Founder and President of the Port Perry Photographic
Society
• Recipient of the Ontario Heritage Award
• Vice President and Treasurer of the Scugog Council for
the Arts (5 years)
• Member of the Mayor's Honour Roll
• Board of Directors for the Scugog Memorial Public
Library (2 years)
• Treasurer of the Lake Scugog Studio Tour (4 years)
• Numerous photographic awards
Travel Awards
• International Travel News '100+ Nations' award
• Visited all of Europe' award
• The 'Phileas Fogg' award (in recognition of travelling to
the same nations as the character in the Jules Verne
novel 'Around the World in 80 Days'.
• The 'Travelled to Six Continents' award
• The 'Shellback' award (celebrating the crossing of the
equator, the international dateline and the zero
meridian).