Born in The Hague, The Netherlands. Son of a prison guard. Attended several film schools in Sittard (The Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium) and the Dutch Film And Television Academy (The Netherlands). Graduated with the short movie De Orde Der Dingen (1996). Koolhoven has a relationship with Dutch writer/director 'Tallulah Schwab' since 1993. They've got two children. The first film he made after graduating from the Dutch Film Academy was _Duister Licht (1997)_, starring a young Dutch actor/writer/director Marc van Uchelen , who was in his class at the Academy, and is a close personal friend.
At the age of twelve, Tygo was seen on television for the first time in a promotion video to get the Olympic Games to the Netherlands. His role in the youth series 'Fort Alpha' made him famous in the Netherlands. After that, many guest appearances followed, as well as leading parts in television series like 'De Garage', 'Van Speijk' and 'Het Schnitzelparadijs'. Tygo starred in feature films 'Naar De Klote','De Dominee', 'Ik omhels je met 1000 armen' and 'Dunya & Desie'. For his leading role in the feature film 'Van God Los', Tygo was granted with a Golden Calf (the Dutch Oscars) for Best Actor in 2003. In 2005 he won a Golden Calf for his role in the feature film 'Het Schnitzelparadijs', but this time he shared the award with his four co-stars. This year, Tygo can be seen in the Dutch cinema starring in 'Oorlogswinter', 'Mijn vader is een detective' and 'Het Leven Uit Een Dag'. Tygo just finished shooting two films in which he plays the lead, 'Carmen van het Noorden' and 'First Mission'.
