Ken Olisa
FBCS | |
---|---|
Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London | |
Assumed office 29 May 2015 | |
Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
Preceded by | Sir David Brewer |
Personal details | |
Born | Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa 13 October 1951 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
Spouse |
Julia Sherwood (m. 1976) |
Alma mater | Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge |
Sir Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa
Early life
Born in
Career
At IBM he held various posts before joining Wang Laboratories[5] in 1981. Following a period as marketing director for Europe, VP of US Marketing and then of Worldwide Marketing based in Boston, he was appointed Senior VP and general manager of Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME) located in Brussels. He led the team which restored the EAME operation to profitability, following which he launched an unsuccessful management buyout resulting in his departure in 1992.
Olisa then founded Interregnum, a technology merchant bank, leading it through its early growth, its entry into and exit from a joint venture with
Olisa has considerable public company board-level experience on both sides of the Atlantic. He was the first British-born black man to serve on the board of a major UK public company (Reuters) and is a former non-executive director of Thomson Reuters (where he was a member of the Audit Committee),[7] and is also a former non-executive director and Deputy Chairman of the Institute of Directors.
He was a Director and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee of Canada's largest independent software developer,
Olisa is also Chairman of the Thebes Group and not for profit Shaw Trust.[9]
In 2009, The Sunday Times named him Not for Profit non-executive director of the year, and in 2016 he was voted number one in the Powerlist's Top 10 most influential British black people.[10]
In November 2017, Olisa succeeded Adedotun Sulaiman as the Chairman of Interswitch and in 2018 he joined the Board of Huawei (UK) resigning in March 2022[11]
In January 2023, Olisa was appointed Chairman of BusinessLDN (formerly known as London First)[12] following the retirement of Paul Drechsler
Honours and appointments
Olisa was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2010 Birthday Honours for services to homeless people in London, a Commander of the Order of St John in 2017 and a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to business and philanthropy.[13][14][15] Olisa was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London on 29 May 2015.[16]
In 2018, he was awarded
Olisa is a
Olisa is also a
His past appointments include serving as Master of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, Director of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, member of the Government's Women's Enterprise Taskforce; Governor of the Peabody Trust for ten years; non-executive director of the West Lambeth NHS Trust; and a start-up regulator twice: first as an inaugural Postal Services Commissioner, from 2001 to 2004, and as a board member of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, the body charged with managing the expenses, pay and pensions of members of parliament.
On 19 March 2019, Olisa greeted Queen
On 17 May 2021, Olisa became High Bailiff and Searcher of the Sanctuary at Westminster Abbey in succession to Sir Roy Strong.[23][24]
In October 2021 Olisa was elected as an Honorary Bencher of the Inner Temple
He is a trustee of
He is the patron of Red Trouser Day, a charity which raises awareness of colorectal cancer.[26]
References
- Footnotes
- ^ a b "Sir Ken Olisa OBE, CStJ, FRSA, FBCS". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ "Ken Olisa lecture online". Fitzwilliam College. 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ^ "WANG Megatrends" – via YouTube.
- ^ "Home – Restoration Partners". Restoration Partners. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ "Board of Directors". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ "Ken Olisa OBE – Chairman – Independent Audit Limited". Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ "Announcement of Shaw Trust Chairmanship". Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- ^ "Powerlist website". Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ "Huawei UK's British board members resign over Russia-Ukraine stance". Reuters. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
- ^ "Sir Kenneth Olisa announced as new Chair of BusinessLDN". BusinessLDN (previously London First). 6 October 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
- ^ "No. 59446". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 2010. p. 12.
- ^ "No. 61959". The London Gazette. 15 June 2017. p. 11602.
- ^ "No. 62150". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2017. p. N2.
- ^ "No. 61247". The London Gazette. 3 June 2015. p. 10268.
- ^ "Influential business leaders, entrepreneurs and leading diplomat to be recognised with honorary awards from Kingston University". Kingston University London. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
- ^ "Lord Lieutenant and respected theatre maker to receive honorary degrees". Nottingham Trent University. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
- ^ "University to Celebrate Achievements of More Than 3,900 Students at Annual Graduation Ceremonies – University of Worcester". worcester.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- ^ "Coronation order of service in full". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ "Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE appointed President of London Youth". London Youth. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^ Kahla, Cheryl (22 March 2019). "Kate Middleton's first solo outing with the Queen". The South African. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- ^ "Order of Service". Westminster Abbey. 17 May 2021.
- ^ "Lord-Lieutenant of London installed as High Bailiff". Westminster Abbey.
- ^ "Governance". The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ "Patron". Red Trouser Day. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- Sources
- The Telegraph website
- The Guardian website
- Interview with The Sunday Times
- Profile of Ken Olisa at Thames Reach