Ole Peder Bertelsen (30 November 1930 - 10 July 2018) was a Danish-born oil trader and a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

trade entrepreneur. In 1985, he brought

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

’s brand to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was the son of a horse dealer and was born in the seaport of

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

on the

Jutland Peninsula Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

on November 30, 1930. He graduated from

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

with a degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and joined the

Shell oil company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...

where he worked for 15 years. He made his money in oil in the 1980s. Then, in 1982, he was an investment advisor to an oil company that had, as part of its investments, a

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

ranch. The neighbor of that ranch, Ralph Lauren, wanted to buy the property and, in exchange, Lauren offered his European distribution and his London shop to Bertelsen. In the 1980’s, Bertelsen was called “the most powerful fashion entrepreneur” by

The London Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

. His company, Aguecheek, had many London boutiques including those for Ungaro, Valentino,

Katharine Hamnett Katharine E. Hamnett (born 16 August 1947, in Gravesend, Kent) is an English fashion designer best known for her political T-shirts. Early life Hamnett was born on 16 August 1947, the daughter of James Appleton, a group captain. She attende ...

Krizia Krizia is a designer label and manufacturer of ladies' handbags, clothing, footwear and perfumes. The ready-to-wear fashion label was established in 1954 in Milan, Italy, by Mariuccia Mandelli (1925–2015). Her husband Aldo Pinto was chairman ...

, Walter Steiger,

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained notoriety working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expande ...

, Tiffany, Luciano Soprani and Comme des Garcons Homme Plu. He opened Gallery 28, a Mayfair outlet with many designers' clothes. He married Prue Hyne in 1960 and they had three sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertelsen, Ole Peder 1930 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Danish businesspeople