THE BPI – the UK record labels’ trade association that promotes British music – is delighted to announce the appointment of MJ Olaore to the newly-created role of BPI chief operating officer.
Commencing 1st November, and reporting to chief executive Geoff Taylor, MJ will be responsible for the BPI’s day-to-day operational and financial affairs and for the further development of its commercial activities.
She joins the BPI from leading independent market research company, Firefish, where she has been chief operating officer since 2011.
MJ will be introduced to BPI members and partners at the BPI’s 2016 AGM, Wednesday 7th September.
MJ grew up in Nigeria and Scotland, and studied law at Liverpool University before taking on her first role at Price Waterhouse in London.
She has since gone on to develop a distinguished and successful career in broadcast media and entertainment, rising to senior management positions at ITN, LBC Radio, Virgin Radio and its successor, Absolute Radio, all the while developing a broad range of skills across advertising and sales, IT, broadcast engineering, facilities, legal, strategy and research, finance, and operations.
Please see Notes to editors for more detailed biography.
MJ Olaore, incoming BPI chief operating officer, comments: “I am delighted to be joining the BPI at such an exciting and interesting time for the organisation and the recorded music industry that it serves.
“I know that Geoff Taylor and Ged Doherty have ambitious plans to continue to develop the role of the BPI in promoting British music; I am looking forward to helping advance these, working with the whole BPI team to bring them to fruition. It is an amazing opportunity.”
Geoff Taylor, chief executive BPI and BRIT Awards, adds: “We welcome MJ to the BPI family and are confident that we will benefit hugely from her extensive senior level experience and from a broad range of skills honed across the media and entertainment sectors.
“We are absolutely committed to helping both independent and major labels in the UK to grasp the opportunities that the next few years will offer and to promoting their artists and their achievements at home and around the world.
“MJ’s arrival will enable us to pursue that agenda more effectively on behalf of our all our members.”
ENDS
Enquiries:
Gennaro Castaldo gennaro.castaldo@bpi.co.uk +44 (0)20 7803 1326 / +44 (0)7801 194 139
Notes to editors:
MJ grew up in Nigeria and Scotland, studied Law at Liverpool University and then joined Price Waterhouse in London.
After her time with PWC, including a period working in their Singapore office and time out travelling in the far east, MJ joined Independent Television News – her first foray into the media and entertainment sector which has shaped her career ever since. From ITN she moved to LBC radio, in which ITN was a major shareholder, expanding her initial finance role to ultimately becoming station director overseeing the broadcasting and advertising sales contracts with its major shareholders.
MJ’s next media position was at Virgin Radio where she further added to her remit with IT and broadcast engineering, strategy and research, legal and facilities. She also oversaw the construction of new studios – all the while leading all the finance functions as director of Finance and Operations.
MJ took some time out of the business in 2008/9 to have her son, George, and then returned to Absolute Radio (Virgin Radio’s successor company) to take on a role as director of Special Projects.
Whilst this served her well on her return to work, she was soon ready to focus once again on the challenges of an operational role and took on the newly-created role of chief operating officer at the leading independent market research company, Firefish, in 2011.
During her time at Firefish, MJ has been instrumental in managing the growth of the company from a single entity to a seven-company group, with operations in the USA, Singapore and the Netherlands to add to the growing UK base.
MJ strongly believes that organisations are healthier for operating with a collegiate ethos, and always aims for this as a corporate goal believing that happy, well-motivated staff will inevitably lead to a better business.
Whilst she strives for perfect outcomes, she lives firmly in the real world and recognises that pragmatic solutions can often be the most valuable ones.
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Contact: BPI
Email: gennaro.castaldo@bpi.co.uk
