He studied history in Ghent, journalism in Paris, and political sciences at Harvard. From 1988 through 2010, he worked for De Standaard. He started out reporting on culture and afterwards became its Paris and New York correspondent. In 1999, he became editor-in-chief. In February 2006, the Vlaamse Uitgeversmaatschappij, which was renamed Corelio later that year, appointed him general editor-in-chief of its newspaper division. That gave Vandermeersch final responsibility for the editorial policy and the commercial positioning of De Standaard, Het Nieuwsblad, and De Gentenaar.