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BDO adds new CRO and CPO
The professional services firm has revealed changes to its executive line-up, with two senior promotions.
BDO has confirmed that Willem Olivier (pictured, left) has been appointed chief risk officer and Kerry Atkinson (pictured, right) has been appointed chief people officer, in a moment when it said it is focusing on sustainable growth, confident governance, and a people experience built for the future.
The firm’s chief executive partner, David Garvey, said that the appointments strengthen trust and talent, two essential components of a forward-thinking professional services firm.
“Strong governance and a strong people experience go hand in hand. As our firm grows, we will continue to lift the standards in how we manage risk and how we support and develop our people,” Garvey said.
Olivier is a former ethics and monitoring leader, having previously served at PKF Inc and Go2Africa in South Africa. In his new role as chief risk officer, Olivier will be responsible for the firm’s quality and risk management to ensure effective governance, compliance, and decision-useful risk reporting.
Atkinson will be responsible for the firm’s people strategy and operations in her role as chief people officer, having previously served as principal of human resources at BHP in Brisbane, and served at Energy Super, HR Business Solutions and Thiess in other HR roles.
“These latest C-suite appointments build upon BDO’s operational leadership team, including CIO (Tiffany Wong) and CCO (Nicole Aman) appointments announced late last year,” the firm said.
“Interestingly, BDO’s c-suite is predominantly female, with only the CRO and CEO being male; an uncommon position in professional services and a marker of the firm’s ambition to improve gender balance in senior leadership,“ it added.
This news follows the BDO’s appointment of three new partners in February, its addition of 16 new leaders in January, its culling of four advisory partners in November, its appointment of a new chief information officer and chief client officer in the same month, and its appointment of a new global chief executive in October last year.
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