Keynote SpeakerEdmund John Browne

Lord Edmund John Browne was the CEO of BP from 1995 to 2007. He is considered one of the most forward thinking and strategic business leaders in the world and guided BP’s transformation into one of the world’s largest companies.

Lord Browne was the first to build an oil company through a series of record-breaking mergers, and was the first to build a successful large oil company in Russia. During his tenure at the helm of BP, he led the way on issues such as climate change, human rights, and corporate transparency. His legacy includes being voted Most Admired CEO by Management Today from 1999-2002 consecutively, being knighted in 1998, advising five prime ministers, and building a reputation as a visionary leader.

Lord John Browne has most recently served as Executive of Chairman of L1 Energy, where he spearheaded the merger of Wintershall and DEA to create the world’s largest privately held oil and gas company Wintershall Dea.

He was a Partner of Riverstone Holdings LLC from 2007–15, where he raised and co-led the world’s largest renewable energy private equity fund. He was a non-executive director of Goldman Sachs from 1999 to 2007, a non-executive director of Intel Corporation from 1997–2006, a member of the Supervisory Board of DaimlerChrysler AG from 1998 –2001 and a non-executive director of SmithKline Beecham from 1996-99.

He has served as a Trustee of the British Museum, Chairman of the Tate, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and Chairman of the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Lord John Browne is the author of Beyond Business, Seven Elements that Changed the World, The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out is Good Business and the Sunday Times bestseller Connect: How Companies Succeed by Engaging Radically with Society. His fifth book – Make, Think, Imagine: Engineering the Future of Civilisation – was published in May 2019.