Hielke is a native of the Netherlands. He spent most of his career as a potato breeder at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Potato Research Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Hielke has traveled widely throughout the Americas and East Asia where he served as a volunteer consultant and lecturer on potato related issues. He is a Fellow of the Agricultural Institute of Canada, an Honorary Life Member of the Potato Association of America and an Honorary Professor of the Hunan Agricultural University in China. Hielke and his wife, Siegelinde, reside in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario where he enjoys gardening, biking and collecting potato stamps. They have three grown children of whom co-author Walter is one.