Australian Olive Association President, Peter O’Meara, has announced that Greg Seymour has been appointed as the new CEO to lead the organisation. Greg commenced duty on 1 March and has been busy meeting directors and familiarizing himself with his new role. He also found time to meet several AOA members at the Super High-Density Field Day in South Australia last weekend.
As an extra bonus for the industry, former CEO Lisa Rowntree has agreed to take on an Executive Assistant role. The new executive will provide the Olive industry with a high caliber and vastly experienced leadership team.
Peter O’Meara said Seymour was the ideal candidate for the CEO role, given his extensive experience in horticulture industry leadership backed by formal qualifications in both agriculture and management.
“Greg has a distinguished career in various roles in agriculture in Australia,” O’Meara said.
“Most recently he was General Manager of the Australian Mushroom Growers’ Association (AMGA) for 19 years. He is also well-known internationally, with strong industry relationships in over 20 countries, and holds the position of President with the International Society for Mushroom Science.
“Prior to joining AMGA, Greg held management roles within the NSW Department of Agriculture, focussing on horticulture and international trade development.
“All of this followed on from an initial career as a District Horticulturist in the Lower Murray region, where he gained extensive practical knowledge of irrigated horticulture in an arid climate.
“This vast horticultural industry experience, along with Greg’s leadership skills and successful track record in strategy, advocacy and stakeholder involvement, will be valuable assets to the AOA and its members. In particular, he has extensive experience working with Horticulture Innovation on R&D programs to deliver quantifiable outcomes for industry, one of the major areas of focus currently for the AOA.
“We look forward to working with Greg at this dynamic time for the Australian olive industry, and to achieving similar outstanding results for our growers and producers in terms of market demand and profitability as he did for the mushroom industry.”
Greg had the following words for AOA members:
“Hi Everyone,
I am excited about joining the Australian Olive industry. AEVOO is such a great fresh, tasty and healthy product. I look forward to working with you, and our service providers to ensure consumers in Australia and around the world understand why they should be choosing AEVOO as their preferred olive oil.
The industry has great commercial potential both domestically and internationally. I look forward to leading the AOA as it plays its role in unlocking the many opportunities that will emerge in the future and the many challenges that will come along the way.
I will be traveling extensively over the next couple of months to connect with as many members as possible. I want to hear your stories so I can get a grass roots understanding of where you believe the industry needs to go, and how the AOA can assist that to happen.
I am very pleased that Lisa Rowntree will be staying on to manage the secretariat and look after our very important competitions and events. Her corporate knowledge and industry experience will be retained in the organisation and make my transition into the CEO role much quicker and easier. All the organisational details can remain unchanged.
Most importantly, Lisa’s tremendous skillsets in admin and organisation will ensure we maintain a highly professional secretariat that will allow me the time to focus on the external matters that will make a difference for stakeholders.
My vision is for the AOA to be a highly efficient and effective organisation that is internationally respected for delivering great outcomes for our members and the industry. I will be working hard with the AOA Board to ensure that the AOA is an organization that you are proud of, and want to be part of – but I will need your help. I look forward to your support in helping AOA to become a modern, focused, and flexible organisation that can provide leadership and meet the demands of the rapidly changing world in which your businesses operate.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch by phone or email. I love to put a face to a name so I hope to meet as many as possible in the coming months and beyond.”
Contact Details:
Greg Seymour: 04 7676 0160 | ceo@australianolives.com.au
Lisa Rowntree: 08 8573 6545 | secretariat@australianolives.com.au
