Dick Olver's initial response to being offered a job at BP was to turn it down. Luckily he didn't. Thirty years later, he had risen to be deputy CEO. His next appointment was Chairman of BAE Systems where a steady new hand was needed. Dick's great skill of getting the very best outof people is captured in hiscompelling autobiography.
Hardcover
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Summary
Dick Olver's initial response to being offered a job at BP was to turn it down. Luckily he didn't. Thirty years later, he had risen to be deputy CEO. His next appointment was Chairman of BAE Systems where a steady new hand was needed. Dick's great skill of getting the very best outof people is captured in hiscompelling autobiography.
Description
It was lucky for both BP and DickOlver that he changed his mind after initially declining their job offer. Thirty years later he had become one of the multinationaloil and gas company's most respected and talented managers - rising to bedeputy chief executive. As Building Bridges recounts, along the way he hadcrossed many bridges - some over very troubled waters.
After leaving BP, Dick's remarkablecareer didn't stop there. He was appointed chairman of Britain's leadinginternational defence contractor BAE Systems at a critical time when a steady new hand on the tiller wasrequired to steer the company through to the next delicate stages ofdevelopment - salvaging its reputation and ensuring its emergence as one of thebiggest defence companies in the world.
Never one to stand still, his business and philanthropicactivities have continued apace with new ventures - particularly guiding emergentcompanies.
Dick's great skill of gettingthe very best out of people and teams comes through with the fascinatingdetails in this compelling autobiography.
Critic Reviews
"Olver is a modest man. But he has little reason to bemodest about what he did" Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles KCMG LVO (Former diplomat)
"Dick is a gifted businessman. But it was his abilityto inspire people around the world - no matter their background or their role -that made him different. It was - magical!" Bernard Looney (Former CEO BP)
"A rare opportunity to read a personal story ofextraordinary breadth of experience, including some personal crises along theway. And everywhere, the author's personal belief in the importance ofindividuals and empathy shines through." Sir John A Manzoni KCB (Former BP Executive andCabinet Office Permanent Secretary (2014-2020))
"Everyone who reads this autobiography will find itscontents fascinating and I certainly did so.During his career, Dick demonstrated that he had the qualities that arerequired by the leader of huge companies operating around the globe. He certainly succeeded." The Rt Hon Lord Woolf, CH (Former Lord Chief Justice andPresident of the Courts of England & Wales)
About the Author
Sir Richard Olver (universally known as Dick) was born inWoodford Green just outside London in 1947. He graduated from City University with a FirstClass Honours degree in Civil Engineering. After a brief period working in thegovernment's construction unit building roads and bridges, he moved to BP andover thirty years later he was appointed deputy CEO.
Next, he moved to the defence industry to become Chairmanof BAE Systems from 2004 to 2014.
Dick has also held a number of board and advisory roles withcompanies such as Reuters and HSBC, as well as being on Prime Minister GordonBrown's Business Council for Britain and Prime Minister David Cameron's BusinessAdvisory Group.
Dick was knighted in 2013 for services to business andhis contribution to UK corporate governance. He is married with two daughtersand spends a lot of time in the Devon and the west country where he has strongOlver family roots.
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