![Dick Olver](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Dick_Olver.jpg)
Sir Richard Lake Olver
FREng
Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK a ...
(born 2 January 1947) was the chairman of
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
, one of the world's largest defence contractors.
Biography
Early life
Richard Olver was born on 2 January 1947. He studied at
City University London
City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...
, where he gained a first class honours degree in Civil Engineering.
Career
He joined
BP in 1973 and over the course of his 30+ years with the company rose to become deputy group chief executive in 2003. His early career involved a wide range of oil, gas and refining projects in Britain, Canada, Scotland, the Middle East and Norway. He was appointed vice-president, BP Pipelines Inc, BP North America, in 1979. In 1983, he became divisional manager for new technology with responsibility for offshore, Arctic and enhanced oil recovery technology development. In 1985, he became divisional manager of corporate planning and led the strategic team on the acquisition by BP of
Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
in the United States. In 1988, he became general manager, Gas, BP Exploration Europe, responsible for the operation, new business development and asset management, of BP and Britoil's European gas portfolio.
He was made chief of staff to the chairman of BP and head of corporate strategy for the BP Group in May 1990. In April 1992 he became chief executive, BP Exploration, USA. In 1995, he became deputy chief executive of BP Exploration. He was appointed to the board of BP and became CEO of Exploration and Production in 1998. He led the Upstream E&P business of BP for 5 years taking the business from 1.5mboepd to 3.6mboepd through the merger with
Amoco
Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, a ...
and the acquisition of
ARCO
ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...
, thereby more than doubling the size of the business and generating $20bn/yr operating cash. He was then appointed deputy CEO in January 2003 and served in that role until his departure for BAE Systems plc in July 2004. He continued his association with BP as deputy chairman of
TNK-BP
TNK-BP (Tyumenskaya Neftyanaya Kompaniya, Tyumen Oil Company) was a major vertically integrated Russian oil company headquartered in Moscow. It was Russia's third-largest oil producer and among the ten largest private oil companies in the world. ...
until 2006.
He became the non-executive chairman of
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...
on 1 July 2004. He replaced
Sir Richard Evans
Sir Richard Harry Evans (also known as Dick Evans), (born 1942, Blackpool)''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'' is a British businessperson who is chairman of the Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna. He is formerly chairman of the British arms ...
, who had served with BAE Systems and its predecessor companies for over 30 years.
He was a non-executive director of
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
and
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre.
Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...
from 1997-2008 and a member of former Prime Minister
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
's Business Council for Britain from 2009 to 2010. He is a former member of Prime Minister
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
's Business Advisory Group and also serves as a UK Business Ambassador. He is an adviser to
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is an American private equity company. It is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the world. Founded in 1978, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in approximately 90 businesses, repre ...
and
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...
and a board member of SandHill Petroleum BV and EdgeMarc LLC
Civic service
He served as chairman of the Academy's Education for Engineering (E4E) Policy Group whose membership is drawn from the chief executives of the Professional Engineering Institutions, the Engineering Council, Engineering UK and The Royal Academy of Engineering. Under Olver's Chairmenship, the E4E Policy Group had major successes in influencing government policy in education. He also chaired the Academy's Development Advisory Board which is committed to raising the recognition of the contribution engineering and engineers make to the health and wealth of UK society. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Science from City University, London in November 2004 and was awarded a second Honorary Doctorate in Science from
Cranfield University
, mottoeng = After clouds light
, established = 1946 - College of Aeronautics 1969 - Cranfield Institute of Technology (gained university status by royal charter) 1993 - Cranfield University (adopted current name)
, type = Public research uni ...
In June 2006. He was elected as a
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of The
Royal Academy of Engineering
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering.
The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...
in July 2005 and served on the Academy's Council from 2006 to 2009. He was awarded the President's Medal in 2015 for services to the Royal Academy of Engineering and to the nation in education.
He was awarded the
non-executive director
A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of the ...
(NED) of the Year Award at the 6th annual NED Awards sponsored by The
Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
in March 2012.
He was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to business and contribution to UK Corporate Governance.
Personal life
In 1968, he married Pamela Larkin. They have two daughters. In 2011, Olver, who lived in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, came under fire by local residents upon announcing his plan of developing a 9-acre estate called Hunterswood near
Greenway Estate
Greenway, also known as Greenway House, is an estate on the River Dart near Galmpton in Devon, England. Once the home of the author Agatha Christie, it is now owned by the National Trust.
The estate is served by a steam railway service with tr ...
,
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
's estate on the
River Dart
The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth.
Name
Most hydronyms in England derive from the Brythonic language (from which the river's subsequent names ultimately derive fr ...
near
Galmpton in Devon.
References
External links
A Man of Learning – Dick Olver FREng''Ingenia'', Issue 29, December 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olver, Dick
1947 births
Living people
BAE Systems people
Reuters
Alumni of City, University of London
Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Knights Bachelor
British chairpersons of corporations
British chief executives
British corporate directors
Businesspeople awarded knighthoods