Olivier Baussan (born December 9, 1952) is a French businessman and the founder of
L'Occitane en Provence
L'Occitane en Provence, "the Occitan woman (in Provence)," commonly known as L'Occitane, is a French luxury retailer of body, face, hair, fragrances, and home products based in Manosque, France. Founded in 1976 by Olivier Baussan, with the pur ...
, Oliviers & Co and Première Pression Provence.
Biography
Baussan completed his degree in literature at the
université d'Aix-en-Provence.
At the age of 23 he began to focus on creating cosmetic products from the flora of Provence.
The acquisition of an old soap factory that had been on the decline, in partnership with a chemist friend, Yves Millou, launched the growth of the small business. The group was created in 1976. In 1981 he opened his first store in Volx in Haute Provence. In 1992, he sold the company to Austrian businessman Reinold Geiger but retained a 5% stake.
Through l’Occitane en Provence he launched a brand of premium olive oil, Oliviers & Co, in 1996. Most of the oils sold through the company are produced by families or small cooperatives, all of whom must follow Baussan’s exacting methods of cultivation and production.
In July 2006, he opened the eco-museum of l’Olivier in Volx and, two years later, he opened the Première Pression Provence to commemorate the producers of olive oil in Provence.
Philanthropy
He is Vice President of the L’Occitane Foundation, a charitable organization that focuses on the economic emancipation of women in Burkina Faso as well as the support for the visually impaired. The company decided in 1997 to include the names of products in braille on most of the packaging. He partnered with the
Hellen Keller Foundation to provide eye exams to schools in the
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. In addition, he decided that all the proceeds from the sale of L’Occitane’s “Animal Soaps Set” go to
Orbis, a non-profit organization that works to fight blindness in developing countries.
Awards
In 2009 Baussan received a medal of the Knight of the Order of Merit of Agriculture from
Michel Barnier
Michel Barnier (born 9 January 1951) is a French politician who served as the European Commission's Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UK Task Force/UKTF) from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as Chief Negotiator, Task ...
, the French minister of agriculture.
In February 2011 he was nominated by the Vanity Fair Hall of Fame for his philanthropic work.
Vanity Fair Nominates Olivier Baussan
''Vanity Fair'', June 1, 2011
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baussan, Olivier
French chief executives
Living people
1952 births