Els Borst, a former health minister who drafted the Netherlands' 2002 law permitting euthanasia, has been found dead in her garage. She was 81.
Utrecht police spokesman Thomas Aling told state broadcaster NOS that police had not ruled out a natural cause of death, an accident or a crime, but had no reason to suspect a crime.
She was seen as recently as Saturday, at a function of her centrist D66 political party.
Borst was a medical academic who served as health minister from 1994 to 2002. She also drafted the legislation that permits the use of tissue from aborted fetuses for medical research.
The country's euthanasia law allows euthanasia when a person requests it, is suffering unbearably and has no chance of recovery. Two doctors must agree.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte praised Borst as "a wise professional, with clear and considered standpoints, who stood her ground".