Tony Hayward

Tony Hayward studied geology at Aston University in Birmingham and completed a PhD at Edinburgh University. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, Aston University, the University of Birmingham and Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University.

He was Group Chief Executive of BP from 2007 to 2010 having joined BP in 1982 as a rig geologist in the North Sea. Following a series of technical and commercial roles in Europe, Asia and South America, he returned to London in 1997 as a member of the Upstream Executive Committee. He became Group Treasurer in 2000, Chief Executive for BP’s upstream activities and member of the Main Board of BP in 2003.

In June 2011 Tony founded Vallares plc, a $2.2bn acquisition company listed on the London Stock Exchange, He became Chief Executive of Genel Energy plc in November 2011 following the merger of Vallares plc and Genel Energy International, the largest oil producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Tony is Chairman of Glencore, a Partner of AEA Investors and Chairman of CompactGTL. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a visiting Professor in the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh and on the International Advisory Board of Birmingham University. In addition he is a member of the British Museum’s Chairman’s Advisory Board and on the Appeal Board for Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Centre for Children’s Rare Disease Research.