Valckenier's father, an alderman and secretary in Amsterdam, was an official of the Dutch East India Company based in Amsterdam. Valckenier's grandfather was Gillis Valckenier, one of the great regents of Amsterdam during the later Dutch Golden Age. On 22 October 1714, Adriaan left on board the ‘Linschoten’ to be assistant buyer in the Dutch East Indies, where he arrived on 21 June 1715 at Batavia. In 1726, he became merchant and chief buyer ; in 1727 he was "Accountant General" of the Dutch Indies; in 1730, he was appointed to the Council of the Indies, and, in 1733, as a full "Councillor". In 1736, he was made "First Councillor" and "Director-General", but was beaten to the post of Governor General by Abraham Patras. When Patras died, Valckenier was named Governor General by the Council of the Indies on 3 May 1737.
It was during the rule of Adriaan Valckenier that the notorious slaughter of Chinese took place in Batavia. A previous Governor General had encouraged many Chinese to come to Batavia. The population was approaching 50% of Chinese provenance. They worked in the construction of the houses and fortifications of Batavia and on the sugar plantations outside the city. Many Chinese merchants also took a leading, if illegal, role in the trade with China. From 1725 the sugar trade began to collapse, partly because of competition from Brazil and coffee was added. Unemployment in the countryside grew, and along with that, unrest. This spread to Batavia as unemployed Chinese left the countryside to seek work or food relief there. The authorities were alarmed at this and began issuing residence permits, and requiring those with permits to live in specific areas. Unrest grew to a full-scale insurrection in the countryside in September 1740, when the Dutch had suggested transporting unemployed Chinese to other Dutch colonies in Ceylon and South Africa. A rumour spread that they would all be thrown overboard en route, and in some accounts, they died when rioting on the ships. and riots in the countryside exploded. The Dutch authorities were afraid that the Chinese within Batavia were collaborating with the insurrection and, during 9–10 October, brutal searches were made of Chinese areas, in which many thousands were killed, often after having been arrested. This "massacre" lasted three days, followed by many more days of looting and arson, with no obvious government attempt to stop the violence. One estimate is that between 5,000 and 10,000 Chinese were killed in total.
Dismissal and death
, a colleague and rival of Valckenier, objected to this violence. He was arrested and sent back to the Netherlands, where, unfortunately for Valckenier, Imhoff's views were well received by the Directors. Valckenier had also been accused of mishandling the coffee trade – fearing overproduction, he had destroyed over half of the plantations. This resulted in a great loss when he could not supply renewed demand, for which the Directors blamed him and had fined him 168,000 florins. He did not manage his Council very well, and there were many intrigues and brawls among members. Van Imhoff's influence in Amsterdam resulted in Valckenier being dismissed as Governor-General and recalled to the Netherlands. His functions were transferred to Johannes Thedens. Valckenier had been initially cleared by the Directors of wrongdoing, but he was re-arrested on his way home, in Cape Town, and returned to the castle prison in Batavia to await trial. He arrived on 12 August 1742. A long, slow, investigative process was then begun, which had not been concluded, nearly ten years later, when Valckenier died, still in prison, on 20 June 1751. He was buried without ceremony. Van Imhoff, his greatest antagonist, had been appointed his successor.
