Dick Olver

Dick Olver joined BP in 1973. His early career involved a wide range of oil, gas and refining projects in Britain, Canada, Scotland, the Middle East and Norway.

He was appointed Vice President, BP Pipelines Inc. in 1979. In 1983 he became Divisional Manager for new technology with responsibility for offshore, Arctic and enhanced oil recovery technology development.

In April 1992 Mr. Olver became Chief Executive, BP Exploration, USA, where he led BP’s growth in deep water exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1995 he became Deputy Chief Executive of BP Exploration.
He was appointed to the board of BP and became CEO of Exploration and Production in 1998. Mr. Olver led the Upstream E&P business of BP for 5 years and became Deputy Group Chief Executive in 2003, a position he held until July 2004.

Board Mandates

Mr. Olver is Chairman of BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defence company since July 2004. He was a Non-Executive Director of Reuters, subsequently Thomson Reuters, until December 2008.

He was also Deputy Chairman of TNK-BP, the largest inward investment ever made in Russia, from July 2004 until Oct. 2006.

Mr. Olver is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a past member of its Council.  
He is also a member of the Trilateral Commission.

He is an Advisor to Clayton Dubilier & Rice and to HSBC.  He is also a member of the Business Council for Britain and a UK Business Ambassador.

Awards

Mr. Olver is a recipient of several honorary doctorates from universities in the UK.