Kok was born in Friesland in the Netherlands. In 1997 he graduated from the University of Utrecht with a degree in Foundations of Quantum Theory. In 2001, he received his PhD in physics from the University of Wales, Bangor. His research specializations include linear optical implementations of quantum communication and computation protocols, quantum teleportation and the interpretation of quantum theory. Dr. Kok has worked in the Quantum Computing Technologies Group at the NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Bristol, England and at the Department of Materials, University of Oxford. He is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Sheffield.