In 2002 Bakker was hiking through mountains whilst on holiday in Corsica when he first thought up the book. He thought about a son who might "do something terrible to his father" but was left "frustrated" when the idea failed to progress any further until one day he began to write at random. Boven is het stil was published in 2006 and The Twin followed in 2008.

Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven libraries all nominated The Twin for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Bakker received the award in Dublin on 17 June 2010. Opting not to give a speech he instead played a tape recording of "Waar is de zon?", the Dutch entry in Eurovision Song Contest 1994 (which also occurred in Dublin). It was the third consecutive debut novel to win the award, succeeding both Man Gone Down and De Niro's Game. Bakker spoke of the need "to lie down for a while" when he was announced as the winner and said "It's wonderful". David Colmer translated the book from its original Dutch into the English language and received ?25,000 of the prize money for his efforts. Bakker credited Colmer with helping "me realise it really is a book, and I am a writer". He plans to buy a Dutch grey horse with his money as "I just love these big beasts". The Irish Times literary correspondent, Eileen Battersby, said Bakker's victory was "significant on several counts", noting that two major longlisted Chinese novels had not even advanced to the shortlist.

The Twin was Bakker's debut adult novel. Among his other works are a children's dictionary and Pear Trees Bloom White, a young-adult fiction novel.

Bakker's novel, The Detour, is scheduled to be published in October 2010.

Bakker is a gardener by trade, having achieved his gardening license in 2006. He says writing and gardening "work well together". Bakker works as a skating instructor in winters.