A graduate of the École des Hautes Études Commerciales in Jouy-en-Josas, France, Frédéric Van Heems began his career in 1986 at the French newspaper Le Figaro, before joining the Lagardère Group in 1994 where he was Chairman and CEO, first for Lapker in Hungary and then for Zendis in France. In 2002, he joined Areva, as Director of the uranium enrichment program. Three years later, he was appointed President and CEO of Canberra as worldwide leader in radioactivity measurement systems and solutions, where he was based in New York. In 2009, he was named CEO of Cegelec Group. In 2011, he created his consulting company, and in 2013, he became CEO of Alstom Power Automation and Control.
Frédéric Van Heems joined Veolia in 2014 as General Manager of its subsidiary Siram in Italy. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer for Veolia Water France in 2016, before becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of Veolia North America in 2021.
