Product details
- ISBN 9781910533789
- Weight: 520g
- Dimensions: 153 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 01 Mar 2025
- Publisher: Nine Elms Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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It was lucky for both BP and Dick Olver that he changed his mind after initially declining their job offer. Thirty years later he had become one of the multinational oil and gas company's most respected and talented managers - rising to be deputy chief executive. As Building Bridges recounts, along the way he had crossed many bridges - some over very troubled waters.
After leaving BP, Dick's remarkable career didn't stop there. He was appointed chairman of Britain's leading international defence contractor BAE Systems at a critical time when a steady new hand on the tiller was required to steer the company through to the next delicate stages of development - salvaging its reputation and ensuring its emergence as one of the biggest defence companies in the world.
Never one to stand still, his business and philanthropic activities have continued apace with new ventures - particularly guiding emergent companies.
Dick's great skill of getting the very best out of people and teams comes through with the fascinating details in this compelling autobiography.
Sir Richard Olver (universally known as Dick) was born in Woodford Green just outside London in 1947. He graduated from City University with a First Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering. After a brief period working in the government's construction unit building roads and bridges, he moved to BP and over thirty years later he was appointed deputy CEO.
Next, he moved to the defence industry to become Chairman of BAE Systems from 2004 to 2014.
Dick has also held a number of board and advisory roles with companies such as Reuters and HSBC, as well as being on Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Business Council for Britain and Prime Minister David Cameron's Business Advisory Group.
Dick was knighted in 2013 for services to business and his contribution to UK corporate governance. He is married with two daughters and spends a lot of time in the Devon and the west country where he has strong Olver family roots.
