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At Olam, over the last 20 years, we have trained and developed a large number of our managers to build, lead and grow businesses. Our goal is to grow a team of entrepreneurs into leadership positions. We have developed a significant number of growth leaders who are committed to growing their business to achieve leadership positions in their businesses. In recognition of our effort and success in building leaders, Olam has been named in the 2009 list of Global Top Companies for Leaders in a comprehensive study conducted by Hewitt Associates, in partnership with The RBL Group and Fortune. We were also named in the Top Companies for Leaders in the Asia Pacific region.
The core of Olam’s management strength is the Global Assignee Talent Pool, which comprises 430 managers. A key tenet of our leadership philosophy has been creating leaders from within as well as acquiring talent from newly acquired businesses.
Our success stems from our ability to execute our multiple growth initiatives. This is accomplished by ensuring that each time a new business is started, or a new geography is opened, we are able to deploy a core team of senior leaders who have the requisite capabilities and proven track record within Olam to spearhead this new opportunity.
We have created the necessary talent pipeline required to achieve our growth plans by consistently attracting high quality professionals. Apart from managerial talent, we have also assembled a line-up of specialists, consisting of more than 10% of our global talent pool with deep domain knowledge and technical skills that give us the edge in execution. We also focus on entry level hiring of Management Trainees from reputable business schools across Asia, South America and Africa.
Olam’s Executive Committee which is the top leadership team in the company consists of 12 business, geography and functional heads, most of whom have spent between 12 and 20 years in the Company:
Sunny Verghese
Group Managing Director and CEO
Sunny Verghese is the Group Managing Director and CEO and was appointed to the Board in 1996. He has been with the Kewalram Chanrai (KC) Group for two decades and in 1989 was mandated to build an agricultural products business for the Group. Before joining the KC Group, he worked for Unilever in India. As the CEO of Olam, he provides the leadership to steer Olam through its expansion and growth plans. He is also a member of the Company’s Capital & Investment and Risk Committees. Sunny is currently Chairman of International Enterprise, Singapore and CitySpring Infrastructure Management Pte Ltd. Earlier this year, he was invited to sit on the Board of Trustees of the National University of Singapore. In 2008, Sunny was appointed as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of PureCircle Limited, which is listed on AIM. He is also a Singaporean representative to the ASEAN Business Advisory Council. He holds a postgraduate degree in Business Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. In 2008, Sunny was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 Singapore, and represented Singapore at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in 2009 in Monte Carlo. Sunny was voted the Best Executive in Singapore in 2006 in the AsiaMoney Awards and was declared ‘Outstanding Chief Executive for 2006’ in the 2007 Singapore Business Awards.
Sridhar Krishnan
Executive Director
Sridhar Krishnan is an Executive Director and was appointed to the Board in 1998. He is a Non-Executive Director of The Singapore Commodity Exchange. He is currently responsible for Olam’s Rice, Wood Products and Shipping businesses. He is a member of the Corporate Executive Team and Strategy Committee and is the Head of the Programme Office, responsible for driving the implementation of the Group’s Corporate Strategy. He has over 35 years’ experience, more than half of which have been with Olam. He has held many senior positions in the Company including being Product Head for many businesses. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and is a postgraduate in Business Management from a leading business school in India. He is a member of the Company’s Risk and Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Committees.
Shekhar Anantharaman
Executive Director
Shekhar Anantharaman is an Executive Director and was appointed to the Board in 1998. He is currently responsible for our Edible Nuts, Spices & Dehydrates, Beans and Packaged Foods businesses. He also has regional oversight for operations in China, Brazil, Argentina and North America. He is a member of the Strategy Committee and the Corporate Executive Team. He has 23 years of experience, 17 of which have been with Olam. He has held various senior roles in Country Management, Finance and Treasury as well as being the Global Product Head for many businesses. He holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a postgraduate degree in Business Management from a leading business school in India. He is a member of the Board’s Capital & Investment and Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Committees.
Krishnan Ravikumar
Chief Financial Officer
Krishnan Ravikumar joined Olam Nigeria as Financial Controller in 1992 and he was appointed as the Financial Controller of Chanrai International Ltd in November 1993. When Olam International was incorporated in 1996, Ravikumar became the Chief Financial Officer. He leads the Finance, Accounting and Corporate Affairs function of the Group. Apart from the CFO responsibilities, he is a member of the Executive Committee (ExCo), Risk Committee and Investment Committee in the company. Ravikumar obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Delhi, India in 1984 and a Degree in Cost Accountancy from The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India in 1985. He became a qualified Company Secretary with the Institute of Company Secretaries in India in 1989 and obtained a postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from Xavier Labour Relations Institute, India in 1990. In 2009, he completed the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School, Boston, USA.
Gerard Manley
Managing Director and Global Head, Cocoa
Gerard Manley joined Olam International in 1998. Gerard is primarily responsible for the worldwide cocoa business of the Group. Prior to joining Olam, Gerard worked for ED & F Man Cocoa Ltd in London as a Director from 1990 to 1998. At ED & F Man Cocoa Ltd, he was also a Director of their operations in Malaysia, Poland and Nigeria. Gerard brings more than 20 years of cocoa trading experience. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Geography from the Newcastle Upon Tyne Polytechnic in 1981 and obtained a Masters of Business Administration from the City University in London in 1988. He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Cocoa Association of Asia.
Jagdish Parihar
Managing Director and Global Head, Cotton
Jagdish Parihar joined the Kewalram Chanrai Group in 1986 and was transferred to Chanrai International Ltd in 1989 in the capacity of General Manager. Jagdish became the Managing Director of the Issuer’s Cotton division in 1996. He obtained a BSc. Degree from Gujarat University in India in 1974 and obtained a Masters degree in Management Studies from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India in 1979. Jagdish is the co-author of a book on Agri-business and Commodity Risk and is involved in teaching Risk Management in the U.S. and the UK. He is also the Director of International Cotton Association U.K. and a qualified commodity arbitrator.
Vivek Verma
Managing Director and Global Head, Coffee, Dairy Products & Commodity Financial Services
Vivek Verma joined Olam in India in 1992 as a Business Manager and started the Indian operations under Olam India. He was transferred to Olam International in Singapore in 1996, where he was appointed as the Vice President responsible for the Group’s coffee business. Vivek was subsequently promoted to Managing Director where in addition to the Coffee business, he developed and is currently responsible for the Dairy Products and the Commodity Financial Services businesses. He obtained a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India in 1985.
Ashok Krishen
Managing Director and Global Head, Edible Nuts, Spices & Dehydrates
Ashok Krishen joined Olam Nigeria in 1992 as a Branch Coordinator. From 1994 to 1996, Ashok was the country head of Olam Ghana. He was appointed the Global Head for Rice and Sugar division from 1996 to 2002. Since 2002, he has been the Global Head of the Group’s Cashews and Spices division. From 2007, he also assumed additional responsibility for other Edible Nuts and Dehydrates division. Ashok holds a Bachelor of Science (Physics) degree from the University of Kerala in India and obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from the Xavier Labour Relations Institute in India in 1986.
Ashok Hegde
Senior Vice President and Head, Risk Management & Information Systems
Ashok Hegde joined Olam Benin in 1994 as a Branch Coordinator in charge of procurement and sale of commodities. Ashok was transferred to Olam International in Singapore in 1996 where he has held various positions including Country Head of Indonesia (from 1996 to 1998), Regional Controller of South East Asia (from 1998 to 2000), Managing Director of the Group’s Wood products division (from 2000 to 2008) and is currently the Global Head—Risk Management & Information Systems. He obtained a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical & Electronics in 1988 from the University of Mysore, India and a Masters in Business Administration in 1991 from the University of Poona, India.
Ranveer Chauhan
Managing Director and Regional Head, West Africa 1
Ranveer Chauhan first joined the Group in April 1993. In October 1997, Ranveer left the Group to join Melagro Exports Ltd as their General Manager and Head of Exports before returning to the Group in November 1998 to be the Regional Controller of West Africa. He is presently the Managing Director for West Africa 1 and South East Africa and is responsible for the Group’s entire operations in 15 countries within the African regions. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1985 and a Master of Science degree in 1987 both from Kanpur University, India. Ranveer also obtained a postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India in 1989. In 2003, he completed the Advanced Management Program from Wharton University of Pennsylvania.
Venkatramani Srivathsan
Managing Director and Regional Head, West Africa 2
Venkataramani Srivathsan joined Olam Nigeria in 1994. Srivathsan has held various positions in the Group including Financial Controller, Nigeria and Country Head, Ghana. He is currently responsible for the Group’s operations in Nigeria, Cameroon and Benin. He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from St. Xavier’s college, Tamil Nadu in 1984 and qualified as a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1998.
Richard Haire
Managing Director and Regional Head, Australia and New Zealand
Richard Haire is Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of wholly owned subsidiary Queensland Cotton Holdings Pty Ltd, a position he has held since 1990. Richard is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australia Institute of Management. He has more than 28 years of experience in the international cotton industry, including 26 years’ experience in agricultural commodity trading and banking. Richard is the Chairman of the Australian Cotton Industry Council and a member of the Rabobank Australia/New Zealand Food and Agribusiness Advisory Board.
The next tier of senior leadership team is the Management Committee drawn from various geographies, functions and products heads. The Management Committee ensures leadership alignment to Olam's mission and shared goals and spearheads interventions designed to improve engagement and internal partnership. Various Standing Committees within the Management Committee are in place for addressing large cross-cutting issues shaping the organisation.
The Executive Committee and the Management Committee meet twice a year to participate in developing corporate strategy, and provide thought leadership for various organisation-wide growth initiatives.
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