Niek Otten lives in the Netherlands. He started in data processing in 1967 in an insurance company. He ran into Visicalc in 1980 and has been addicted to spreadsheets ever since. His first encounter with Excel (version 1!) was in 1985 on a Macintosh. Since 2005, Niek has been self-employed — reviewing books, writing articles, and developing Excel-related software, such as a high-performance actuarial add-in.