Jan Pol

Jan Pol has been married to Diane Dalrymple since 1967. The couple met in 1961, when Pol was a foreign exchange student at Mayville High School, and later moved to Michigan together.

Pol and Diane have a son, Charles Pol. Charles helped at the clinic and on farm calls from the age of five before moving into the entertainment industry.

Pol grew up on his family's dairy farm in the Netherlands as the youngest of six children. His early experience with livestock shaped his career, including an incident at age 12 when he helped deliver a litter of piglets and decided he wanted to become a veterinarian.

He graduated from Utrecht University's veterinary program in 1970. After moving to Michigan, he worked for a veterinary practice in Harbor Beach for 10 years before relocating to Weidman and establishing Pol Veterinary Services in 1981. The clinic began in the couple's garage and serves rural communities with limited access to veterinary care.

Pol's practice includes both companion animals and large farm animals. His patients have included mice, snakes, cows, horses, goats, rabbits, dogs and other livestock.

Pol became widely known as the star of Nat Geo WILD's The Incredible Dr. Pol. The series follows him as he treats household pets and farm animals across rural Michigan, often through farm calls and emergency cases.

Charles Pol helped develop the television project after convincing his father to allow him and filmmaker friends to make a documentary about the veterinarian in 2011. The program reached its 100th episode in March 2017.

A Dutch spin-off, In de Voetsporen van Dr. Pol, followed Dutch veterinarians competing to become Pol's newest apprentice. The series aired on RTL4 and attracted an average audience of 1.1 million viewers.

Pol wrote Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow: My Life as a Country Vet with David Fisher. The memoir recounts episodes from his long career treating animals and working with farming communities.

He received an honorary doctorate of public service from Central Michigan University in 2013. He has also been active with 4-H and the Future Farmers of America, organizations that teach young people about animal care.

In 2013, Pol testified before the Michigan House of Representatives in support of a bill concerning investigations based on reality-program broadcasts. The bill did not pass. A disciplinary action involving his treatment of a Boston Terrier was overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals in 2016.

After The Incredible Dr. Pol ended its run of new episodes, National Geographic WILD launched The Incredible Pol Farm in 2024. Pol and his family later created the Dr. Pol CARE veterinary app, while Pol continued practicing veterinary medicine in rural Michigan.