Gaarlandt was born in Rotterdam on October 9, 1946, to the son of Hans Gaarlandt and Anna Wilhelmina Gaarlandt Hupkes. He is a grandson of Egbertus Gerrit Gaarlandt, a mayor of Gouda, and Hermina Johanna Maria de Kat. In 1977, he married Françoise Kist, with whom he has a son and a daughter.
