Quick Info
| Profession | Businessman |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Date of Birth | 12/06/1960 |
| Age | 66 years |
| Birthplace | Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England |
| Zodiac Sign | Gemini |
Do you like Michael Woodford?
You can vote only once.
74% like · 26% dislike
Bio/Wiki
| Summary | Michael Christopher Woodford MBE is a British businessman who spent about 30 years at Olympus, rising to become the company's first non-Japanese president and chief executive. He was removed from the CEO role in October 2011 after raising concerns about large, unexplained payments, and he later became a public whistleblower on the resulting accounting scandal. He is also known as an author, speaker and governance consultant. |
|---|
Educational Qualification(s)
| Millbank College of Commerce | Studied part-time while working; he left school at 16 |
|---|
Career
| Early career | Began as a management trainee at Lucas Aerospace |
|---|---|
| KeyMed (Olympus UK subsidiary) | Joined in 1981 as a surgical salesman; later rose to sales manager, sales director and managing director of the UK business in 1990 |
| Olympus Medical Systems Europe | Became a main board member of Olympus Medical Systems Corporation and Executive Managing Director of Olympus Medical Systems Europe in 2004 |
| Olympus Europa Holding | Appointed Executive Managing Director and Chairman in April 2008, with responsibility for European businesses |
| Olympus Corporation | Appointed President and COO in April 2011 and Chief Executive Officer in October 2011; dismissed on 14 October 2011 |
| After Olympus | Pursued legal action over his dismissal and reached a settlement with Olympus in 2012; later won a London court case concerning his pension in 2019; works as a speaker and consultant on corporate governance, whistleblowing and road safety |
| Honours and recognition | Appointed MBE; received several Businessperson of the Year awards |
| Publications | Author of the book Exposure: Inside the Olympus Scandal (2013) |
Some Lesser Known Facts
| 1. He left school at 16 to start work as a management trainee. | |
| 2. He was the first non-Japanese person to lead Olympus Corporation. | |
| 3. He worked for Olympus for roughly three decades before his dismissal. | |
| 4. He was reportedly forced to leave Japan out of concern for his safety after confronting the board. |
