Guido van Rijn taught English at Kennemer Lyceum in Overveen, The Netherlands. He retired in 2015.

He is a freelance writer and blues and gospel historian, who has published articles in Blues Unlimited, Blues & Rhythm, Juke Blues and Living Blues.

In 1970, he co-founded the Netherlands Blues and Boogie Organization (NBBO) which culminated in the annual Utrecht Blues Estafette.

His Ph.D. dissertation from Leiden University was revised as the award-winning Roosevelt’s Blues: African-American Blues and Gospel Songs on FDR (1997). A sequel entitled The Truman and Eisenhower Blues: African-American Blues and Gospel Songs, 1945-1960 was published in 2004. Kennedy’s Blues: African-American Blues and Gospel Songs on JFK was published in August 2007. President Johnson’s Blues: African American Blues and Gospel Songs on LBJ, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy and Vietnam 1963-1968 was published in 2009. The Nixon and Ford Blues: African-American Blues and Gospel Songs on Vietnam, Watergate, Civil Rights and Inflation 1969-1976 was published in 2011. The final volume, The Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama Blues was published in 2012.

Together with Alex van der Tuuk Guido van Rijn has compiled a five-volume discography of the Paramount 78 label. These volumes appeared in 2011, 2012 and 2013, 2014 and 2015. This discography lists all New York Laboratory recordings in matrix order, so that the original sessions can be reconstructed. Second, revised editions appeared in 2015 (Volume I) and 2024 (Volume II).

In 2021 Van Rijn published The Texas Blues of Smokey Hogg, in 2022 The St. Louis Blues of Walter Davis & The Naptown Blues of Leroy Carr, in 2023 The Chicago Blues of Washboard Sam and The Chicago Blues of Jazz Gillum, in 2024 The Chicago Blues of Joe & Charlie McCoy and Paramount 12000/13000 Series and in 2025 The Memphis Blues & Gospel of Robert Wilkins.

Guido van Rijn has produced thirty-two LPs and CDs for his own Agram label.

He received ARSC awards for Roosevelt’s Blues (1997), The Texas Blues of Smokey Hogg (2022), The Naptown Blues of Leroy Carr (2023), The Chicago Blues of Jazz Gillum (2024) and Paramount 12000/13000 Series (2025).

In 2015 he was presented with a Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) lifetime achievement award in the category “historical preservation” in Memphis, TN and in 2024 he received a lifetime achievement award in Historical Sound research from The Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC).