Rinke Nijburg studied at the Art Academy of Arnhem (1982-1987), the Ateliers Arnhem (1990-1991) and the Rijksacademie Amsterdam (1993-1994)
He received the Royal Subsidy for Painting (1994), the Buning Brongers award (1998) , the Prix de Rome for graphic arts (1999) and the Gelderland graphic art award.
For Nijburg's work, religion is an important source of inspiration. Although raised as a Protestant, his artistic roots lie in the visual wealth of the Roman Catholic tradition. He links religion, mythology, comic strips, fairy tales and the realities of the everyday world to create a mind-blowing cosmology.
In 2000 he and fellow artistst Wout Herfkens and Jan Meijering initiated the foundation "De Vrienden van Job" - Friends of Job, with the aim of organising contemporary art projects of a religious or philosophical nature.
For the exhibition Tableau mort in April 2009, the Friends of Job put togetrher a catalogue under the same title.