Jan op den Velde was a civil engineering student when he took up rowing in 1948. Within three years, he had won a bronze medal at the 1951 European Championships with the Dutch eights. The Netherlands did not enter an eights crew into the tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, so op den Velde instead qualified to compete in the coxless fours at Games. There, alongside Frits de Voogt, Ruud Sesink Clee, and Kees van Vugt, he was eliminated in the round one repêchage. Op den Velde retired from active competition shortly thereafter and had a career working in several countries with a dredging company.
