Dan Olofsson

Dan Olofsson
Born (1950-09-24) 24 September 1950
Ekenäs, Finland
Nationality Swedish
Occupation Entrepreneur, business leader and philanthropist

Dan Olof Olofsson, born 24 September 1950, is a Swedish entrepreneur, business leader and philanthropist.

Olofsson has been married to Christin since 1973. Together, they have three children: Johan (born 1974), Andreas (born 1977) and Hanna (born 1980).

Biography

Early life and education

Dan Olofsson was born in Ekenäs in Finland. His father was employed as pastor of Karis from 1948 to 1951. His parents and family are rooted in Jämtland in northern Sweden. When Olofsson was one year old his family moved to Malmö in southern Sweden, where he was brought up and still lives.[1][2]

Olofsson attended upper secondary technical school at Pauliskolan in Malmö and graduated as Master of Science in Engineering at Lunds Tekniska Högskola in 1974.[1]

Career

After his education, Olofsson began a carrier in the technology consulting industry. He started at VBB (what is now Sweco) and then proceeded to Skandiaconsult.

In 1986 Sapia was established, and Dan Olofssons was assigned the task of building its technical consultancy part, which he then acquired in 1993. The company was renamed Sigma. Dan Olofsson was CEO and the IPO took place in 1997.[3] In 2001, each of Sigma's three business areas became separate companies and went public as Sigma, Epsilon and Teleca. Olofsson became Chairman and principal owner of all three companies.[4]

Since the start in 1986, Sigma, Epsilon and Teleca has grown from zero to approximately 7,000 employees in an entrepreneurial development with subsidiaries in over ten countries.[5] The companies has grown in three different ways: through organic growth, ”entrepreneur packages”, and acquisitions. Entrepreneur packages enables new companies to be started around a driven entrepreneur, who also becomes a co-owner. Some 25 companies, with currently more than 2,500 employees, have been established in this way. The group has also acquired both private and public companies.

Dan Olofsson has been involved in numerous acquisitions and sales, and in seven public buy-outs. The largest transaction was the sale of Epsilon to ÅF in 2012.[6]

In the autumn of 2012, Dan Olofsson’s autobiography "Mina tre liv" ("My three lives") was published by the publishing house Ekerlids Förlag. The book has received particular attention for its claim that the Swedish government should have committed a financial miscarriage of justice at financier Maths O Sundqvist.[7]

Commitment in Africa and in Malmö

In recent years, Dan Olofsson has developed a strong commitment in Africa. One example of this is Thanda Safari in South Africa, which in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 2014, and 2015 was named "the world’s leading luxury lodge" by the World Travel Awards.[8] In 2016, Thanda Island will open off the coast of Tanzania.

His philanthropic commitment is best seen through the organization Star for Life, which he and his wife Christin launched in 2005. So far, 250,000 young people has participated in a three-year preventive programme against hiv/aids in South Africa, Namibia, and Sri Lanka.[9][10] Star for Life recently was established also in Sweden, to strengthen young people's self-esteem and belief in the future.

Dan Olofsson is also the founder of the Thanda Foundatiom, working with projects in KwaZulu-Natal and in Nelson Mandela's birthplace Mvezo in Eastern Cape Province in South Africa.[11]

In the spring of 2011, Dan Olofsson initiated the funding of "Uppstart Malmö", a trust aimed at creating more job opportunities in the under-privileged areas of his hometown Malmö. The concept behind the trust is to offer advice, support and financial help to local entrepreneurs who want to develop their business ideas and create more jobs. [12] Altogether 1,600 people have found work through this initiative.

Awards

Dan Olofsson has received several plaudits for his work. These include being voted South Swedish county of Skåne's Greatest Entrepreneur in 2001, Malmö Ambassador of the Year 2004, the Pegasus Prize in 2008,[13] the Community Philanthropy Award at Global Business Coalition in New York in 2008,[9] Entrepreneurial Model of the Year 2011 by Founders Alliance and H.M. The King's Medal 12th size for important contributions to Swedish business and filantrophic commitment in 2011.[14] In 2012 Dan Olofsson was awarded The Royal Patriotic Society Business Medal for outstanding entrepreneurship,[15] Also in 2012 he received the magazine Veckans Affärer’s Social Capitalist Award. It’s given to role models who through business try to solve problems in society.[16] In 2015, Dan Olofsson was honoured with the Swedish Region Skåne's award for exceptional efforts for the development of Skåne.[17] In October 2015, he was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Technology and Society at Malmö University in Malmö, Sweden, for contributing to resolve societal problems through the use of information and communication technology.[18] Furthermore, in November, the University of FASTA in Argentine awarded Dan Olofsson an honorary doctorate, for his citizenship and philanthropic efforts in Africa and Sweden.[19] He was also awarded The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise' (Swedish: Svenskt Näringsliv) Nicolin Prize for 2015 for his contributions to the public debate for a better understanding of the importance of enterprises.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hemma bäst för IT-kungen", Sydsvenskan, 23 September 2010 (Swedish)
  2. ↑ "IT-miljardären Dan har hittat sin oas i Malmö", Kvällsposten, 9 September 2012 (Swedish)
  3. ↑ "Sigmas erbjudande övertecknat 40 ggr", Pressmeddelande Sigma AB., 10 February 1997 (Swedish)
  4. ↑ "Sigma delas upp i tre bolag", Affärsvärlden, 24 januari 2001 (Swedish)
  5. ↑ "Kamp mot aids ny utmaning för IT-miljardären", Världen idag, 4 december 2007 (Swedish)
  6. ↑ "ÅF fullföljer samgåendet med Epsilon samt beslutar om apportemission", Pressmeddelande ÅF AB, 29 November 2012 (Swedish)
  7. ↑ "Göran Skytte: På ett ögonblick kan allt förändras", Svenska Dagbladet, 30 September 2012 (Swedish)
  8. ↑ "World Travel Awards 2012"
  9. 1 2 "Community Philanthropy Award Commended (2008)", GBCHealth, 31 October 2008
  10. ↑ "Jag känner att jag vill ge tillbaka", Aftonbladet, 18 oktober 2011 (Swedish)
  11. ↑ "Genombrott för Sydafrikaprojektet som engagerar Dan Olofsson: Siemens bygger gymnasium i världsklass i Nelson Mandelas födelseby", Pressmeddelande Thanda Foundation, 29 juni 2011 (Swedish)
  12. ↑ "Dan Olofsson och Luciano Astudillo: Malmös entreprenörer satsar på att skapa nya jobb", Sydsvenskan, 28 februari 2011 (Swedish)
  13. ↑ "Dan Olofsson prisad på gala", Sydsvenskan, 14 mars 2008 (Swedish)
  14. ↑ "Medaljförläningar 6 juni 2011", Sveriges Kungahus, 6 juni 2011 (Swedish)
  15. ↑ "Dan Olofsson får Näringslivsmedalj för framstående entreprenörskap", Pressmeddelande från Kungliga patriotiska sällskapet, 25 April 2012 (Swedish)
  16. ↑ "Samhällskapitalistdagen", Veckans Affärer, 5 September 2012 (Swedish)
  17. ↑ "Dan Olofsson prisas av Region Skåne", Sydsvenskan, 9 februari 2015 (Swedish)
  18. ↑ "Dan Olofsson will be awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Technology and Society", www.mah.se, 9 october 2015
  19. ↑ "El Mg. Dan Olofsson será investido Doctor Honoris Causa por la Universidad FASTA", www.ufasta.edu.ar, 9 november 2015 (Spanish)

External links

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