Photo by Express & Star
Photo by The Birmingham Mail

Olivia Garfield

CEO

Severn Trent

POSITION

CEO

COMPANY

Severn Trent

COUNTRY

United Kingdom

AGE

48 years

Website

stwater.co.uk

SCENE

Business

SOCIAL

LinkedIn

Instagram

Twitter

What makes Olivia Garfield a Global Shaker?

Olivia ‘Liv’ Garfield is the British businesswoman best known for her role as Chief Executive of Severn Trent, one of the largest water companies in the United Kingdom. Raised in Harrogate by Liverpudlian parents, she was educated at Birklands Belmont School Birstwith near Harrogate, followed by the co-educational Bootham School, an independent school in York. Garfield soon moved beyond the confines of Harrogate, eventually graduating with a degree in German and French at the all-female New Hall at the University of Cambridge.

After successfully graduating from Cambridge, Garfield spent a year working at the British Consulate in Brussels, before moving on to Accenture as a consultant in their communications and high-tech market division. In 2011, Garfield she was made chief executive of BT’s Openreach division. In that position, she spearheaded and oversaw the £2.5 billion rollout of fibre broadband to two thirds.

In 2013, Garfield was identified by Fortune Magazine as one of the world’s fastest-rising corporate stars, with the same magazine calling her the 14th Most Powerful Woman in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. As of May 2018, Garfield’s role at Severn Trent made her the youngest female CEO of a FTSE 100 company.

In May 2018, Garfield was announced as the 2018 winner of the prestigious Veuve Cliquot Business Woman Award.

Last updated: May 15, 2018