Raymond Gabriel O'Rourke (born January 1947)
is an Irish businessman, the chairman and CEO of the construction multinational
Laing O'Rourke.
O'Rourke was born in January 1947. A native of
County Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...
, Ireland,
he runs the privately owned Laing O'Rourke with his brother Des (born 1950), and owns 55% of the company.
O'Rourke "started as a 'pony boy' carrying muck out from under London as the Victoria Line was being constructed." His estimated net worth was €800 million as of 2015.
He has honorary doctorates from the
Dublin Institute of Technology
Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological U ...
, and
Queen's University, Belfast
, mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back?
, top_free_label =
, top_free =
, top_free_label1 =
, top_free1 =
, top_free_label2 =
, top_free2 =
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public research university
, parent = ...
.
O'Rourke purchased the construction company Swift Structures, owned by his brothers-in-law, Jim and Matt Halligan from County Mayo. He then called in the receivers.
His son, Cathal, works for Laing O'Rourke,
and in March 2023 was appointed the company's chief operating officer.
References
1947 births
Living people
Irish businesspeople
County Leitrim
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Date of birth missing (living people)
People from County Leitrim
{{Ireland-business-bio-stub