T. William (Bill) Olle (born 1933 and died March 2019) was a British

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...

and consultant and President of T. William Olle Associates,

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 ...

Biography

Bill Olle was educated at

Boston Grammar School The Boston Grammar School is a Grammar school, selective grammar school and sixth form college for boys aged 11 to 18 and girls attending the sixth form aged 16–18 located in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. A recent 2021 Ofsted report assesse ...

(1943-1950). He received an

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree in 1954 and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

degree in 1957, both in

Astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, which involved extensive programming work on the Manchester University Electronic Computer. In 1957, he moved to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, where he worked in computing for a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

organization. In 1964, he moved to the United States, where he was employed by

Control Data Corporation Control Data Corporation (CDC) was a mainframe and supercomputer firm. CDC was one of the nine major United States computer companies through most of the 1960s; the others were IBM, Burroughs Corporation, DEC, NCR, General Electric, Honeywel ...

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

until 1966. From 1967 to 1971, he was employed by the

RCA Corporation The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census.

. In 1972, after a year in Norway, he returned to the UK to establish his own consultancy firm, T. William Olle Associates, specializing in

database management In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases span ...

applications and information systems methodologies. He consulted clients in Europe, Australia, and Canada, and presented lectures on database topics around the world. He retired in 1993.Dr. T. William Olle, FBCS, CITP
Accessed 15 January 2009. Beginning in the 1970s, Olle became active in the

CODASYL CODASYL, the Conference/Committee on Data Systems Languages, was a consortium formed in 1959 to guide the development of a standard programming language that could be used on many computers. This effort led to the development of the programming l ...

organization as Chairman of its Systems Committee and spearheaded the preparation of two early analytical reports on "Generalized Database Management Systems". He represented the

British Computer Society Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957 BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, known as the British Computer Society until 2009, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in infor ...

IFIP TC8 The International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) is a global organisation for researchers and professionals working in the field of computing to conduct research, develop standards and promote information sharing. Established in 19 ...

from its inception in 1977. He was also active in database standards work in

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

and was chairman of the BSI standards committee for many years. Bill Olle was awarded an honorary doctorate by

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

in 2001.

Work

Olle's research interest in the field of

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...

started in 1953 at the University of Manchester. In the 1960s, he became interested in

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

applications, and after his retirement in the 1990s, he focused on the

history of computing The history of computing is longer than the history of computing hardware and modern computing technology and includes the history of methods intended for pen and paper or for chalk and slate, with or without the aid of tables. Concrete devices ...

and on "professionalism in the computer field".

Publications

Olle published numerous books and articles.. Accessed 15 January 2009. The following is a selection: *1971. ''Feature Analysis of Generalized Data Base Management Systems: technical report'' Conference on Data Systems Languages Systems Committee. *1978. ''Codasyl approach to data base management''. *1983. ''Information Systems Design Methodologies: Improving the Practice''. IFIP WG 8.1 Working Conference on Feature Analysis of Information Systems Design Methodologies 1983: York, England. Edited with

Henk G. Sol Henk Gerard Sol (born 11 August 1951 in Borger, Netherlands) is a Dutch organizational theorist and Emeritus Professor of Business Engineering and ICT at Groningen University. His research focuses on the development of services enabled by ICT, man ...

and C. J. Tully. *1982. ''Information Systems Design Methodologies: A Comparative Review''. IFIP WG 8.1 Working Conference. Edited with H.G. Sol and A.A. Verrijn Stuart. *1988. ''Computerized Assistance During the Information Systems Life Cycle''. Proceedings of the IFIP WG 8.1. Working Conference on Computerized Assistance During the Information Systems Life Cycle, Cris 88, Egham, England, 19–22 September 1988. Edited with A. A. Verrijn Stuart and L. Bhabuta. *1988. ''Information systems methodologies: a framework for understanding''.

North-Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a p ...

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olle, T. William 1933 births Living people British computer scientists Enterprise modelling experts Information systems researchers British software engineers Software engineering researchers Alumni of the University of Manchester Fellows of the British Computer Society People educated at Boston Grammar School