Lubna Olayan
“I never dwell on what I've personally achieved.”
About Her
Ethnicity: Saudi
Birthday: August 4, 1955
Born in: Saudi Aarabia
“I never dwell on what I've personally achieved.”
Ethnicity: Saudi
Birthday: August 4, 1955
Born in: Saudi Aarabia
Lubna Olayan is a Saudi business woman. Born to Sulaiman Olayan and Maryam bint Jassim Al Abdulwahab. Considered to be one of the most influential businesswomen in the world; as was listed as one of the top 100 most influential people of 2005 by Time magazine, and has continued to be on the Forbes list of most powerful women till 2011 and has returned to the list in 2014. In 2004, Ms. Olayan was the first woman in Saudi history to deliver an opening keynote address at a major conference in Saudi Arabia; at the Jeddah Economic Forum. As of 2014, she is listed as the 86th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
In February 2005, Olayan was appointed as a non-executive director to the Board of WPP, and in December 2004, was elected to sit on the Board of the Saudi Hollandi Bank, a publicly listed company in Saudi Arabia. In September 2006 and April 2007, she joined the International Advisory Boards of Rolls-Royce and Citigroup, respectively. Olayan also served on the Board of Chelsfield plc, the UK property developer, from 1996 to 2004. She is a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, and the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations, which she joined in November and December 2005 respectively. In 2010, she was awarded the Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year. As of 2014, she is listed as the 86th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. In terms of education and philanthropy, Olayan joined the Board of Directors of INSEAD in December 2005, and has been a member of its International Council since March 1997. In April 2007, she was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees for Cornell University. Olayan also joined the Advisory Board of Effat College, a private and non-profit girls college in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in April 2006. She is also a board member at Alfanar, the first venture philanthropy organization focussing on the Arab Region founded by Tarek Ben Halim in 2004. Olayan has served on the Board of Trustees of the "Arab Thought Foundation," a think tank based in Beirut focusing on issues facing the Arab world, since January 2000.