Pim van Lommel, M.D., was born in 1943, graduated in 1971 from the University of Utrecht, and finished his specialization in cardiology in 1976. He worked from 1977–2003 as a cardiologist in Hospital Rijnstate, an 800-bed Teaching Hospital in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and is now doing full-time research on the mind-brain relation.
He published several articles on cardiology, but since he started his research on near-death experiences (NDE) in survivors of cardiac arrest in 1986, he is the author of more than 20 articles (most of them in Dutch), one book, and several chapters about NDE. He is married, has two children and five grandchildren.
In November 2007, his book Endless Consciousness (Eindeloos Bewustzijn) was published in The Netherlands, which was a bestseller with more than 100.000 copies sold within one year. It was nominated for the Book of the Year in 2008. This book has also been published in Germany by Patmos Verlag as Endloses Bewusstsein. Neue Medizinische Fakten zur Nahtoderfahrung, and in English by HarperCollins as Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience.