Wouter studied law at Utrecht University. In the Summer of 2012, he graduated (cum laude) from the Legal Research Master at that university. During his studies, Wouter worked as a student assistant at the Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology, did an internship at the scientific bureau of the Dutch Supreme Court ('Hoge Raad der Nederlanden') and was an editor at Ars Aequi, a national legal journal.

In the summer of 2015, he worked for the research committee into the confiscation settlement that led to the resignation of the minister of Justice (Opstelten) and secretary of State (Teeven).

Dr. Wouter de Zanger has worked as a PhD Candidate and lecturer at Utrecht University from November 2012 until May 2018. His PhD research focused on asset recovery and the execution of confiscation measures. This research was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Wouter is attached to the Utrecht Centre for Accountability and Liability Law. Prior to starting his PhD research on asset recovery, Wouter has spent six months conducting research into positive obligations imposed by the European Court of Human Rights and their influence on Dutch liability law and criminal law.

On 1 June 2018, he has defended his PhD thesis on the legal position of the person involved in the confiscation procedure. More information on his PhD defence is available here. After that, he has worked as postdoctoral researcher en assistant professor.

In 2020 he was admitted to the bar. He has worked at Franken van Kampen Groenhuijsen Advocaten in Amsterdam and, as of 2023, at Kuyp Baar Advocaten in Laren (see this link).