 Gorlaeus was born in Antwerp as the son of Jacob Godevaertsz van Ghoorle and Willemken Heijmolen, but fled as a teenager with his brother David to the Dutch Republic.He lived in Utrecht and already in 1570 held an influential position under the employment of stadtholder Adolf van Nieuwenaar.He married Susanna Patersson, with whom he had three children in the 1580s.