Olga Zoutendijk
Olga Louise Zoutendijk | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 1, 1961 Curaçao |
| Occupation(s) | Business executive, banker |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Known for | First female chair of the Supervisory Board of ABN AMRO Group and ABN AMRO Bank; board member of Julius Baer Group |
Olga Louise Zoutendijk (born 1 March 1961 in Curacao) is an internationally recognized business executive and banker with extensive leadership roles spanning Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States. In May 2016, she made history as the first female to lead the Supervisory Board of a stock exchange-listed firm in the Netherlands when she was appointed chair of both ABN AMRO Group and ABN AMRO Bank. On 10 April 2019, she joined the board of directors at Julius Baer Group.
Early life and education
Zoutendijk was born in Curaçao to Dutch parents Prof. Dr. Guus Zoutendijk and Adelheid Zoutendijk-Meijs and relocated to the Netherlands in 1963. She obtained a Master’s degree in International Management (Finance) from Thunderbird School of Global Management in 1985, following a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration earned at San José State University in 1983. In 1999, she completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD.
Career
Her professional journey started in May 1986 at ABN, a predecessor to ABN AMRO, where she joined as a graduate trainee in Amsterdam. In 1988, she transferred to New York to serve as a client banker specializing in the U.S. pharmaceutical sector. By 1995, she had advanced to lead wholesale banking at ABN AMRO Ireland based in Dublin; two years later, she was appointed Deputy CEO for ABN AMRO/BZW Australia and New Zealand stationed in Sydney; and in 1999, she assumed the role of CEO for ABN AMRO Portugal in Lisbon. After dedicating 15 years to ABN AMRO, she transitioned to Westpac Australia in 2001 as Group General Manager overseeing Business Banking Products, soon expanding her remit to include Consumer Banking products.
In 2003, Zoutendijk was promoted to Group General Manager of Corporate & Institutional Banking at Westpac. Four years later, Standard Chartered Bank named her Group Head of Wholesale Banking for Asia across 22 markets, initially based out of Singapore before relocating to Hong Kong.
On 1 July 2014, she was appointed to the Supervisory Board of ABN AMRO Group and Bank, contributing on both the Audit Committee and Risk & Capital Committee. Prior to ABN AMRO’s return to the stock market with its November 2015 IPO after an eight-year hiatus, she moved back to Amsterdam in February 2015. In August that year, she was elected Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Chair of the Risk & Capital Committee, before being promoted to Chairwoman in May 2016.
Under her leadership as chairwoman, ABN AMRO’s operating income increased from €8.5 billion (FYE 2015) to €9.3 billion (FYE 2017), while net profits rose from €1.9 billion to €2.8 billion. She also significantly enhanced diversity within senior management, raising representation from 23% up to nearly 40% by 2017.
Starting 1 July 2016, Zoutendijk joined Leiden University’s board of governors and took on the role of Chairwoman for its Audit Committee. She announced her intention not to pursue a second term as chair of ABN AMRO effective July 2018.
In January 2019, Swiss private banking multinational Julius Baer nominated her for election to its board of directors at their Annual General Meeting.