On 26 January 2005 he was chosen as the Dichter des Vaderlands (Poet Laureate of the Netherlands), following Gerrit Komrij. In 1987 the Dutch literary magazine De Tweede Ronde honored him by awarding him the Kees-Stip Prize for his career work and use of light verse. Van Wissen also published under the pen-name Albert Zondervan.
He died in May 2010 in Istanbul.