Olivier Kayser

Founder and Senior Advisor

Ever since founding Hystra in 2009, Olivier has been working closely with the senior management of some of the world’s largest corporations (Unilever, Danone, Total, Lafarge…), as well as leading aid agencies, foundations (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CIFF…) and social enterprises (Baobab+, blooom, Simplon…). While Olivier thrives in exercising creative problem solving, he is now focused on helping the next generation of inclusive business leaders grow, within Hystra and with its clients.

As Ashoka’s Vice-President from 2003 to 2008, Olivier launched the company’s operations in France and the UK, and founded the Ashoka Support Network of business people supporting social entrepreneurs (now close to 400 in 20 countries).

Before joining the citizen sector, Olivier was a senior partner in McKinsey & Company. Throughout his 18 years in Europe, the US and Asia, he was a strategic advisor to the top management of some of the largest global multinational corporations as well as state-owned enterprises and family businesses.

He is currently a board member of a multibillion Euro corporation (GeoPost), social enterprises (eKutir, Baobab+) and an Impact investing fund (Phitrust).

Olivier was born in France and grew up in Spain. After graduating from HEC in 1979, he lived for one year in a small village in Belize, with no running water or electricity. He then returned to France and, at age 23, founded TER - a consulting firm specializing in transportation and serving mainly French public-sector clients.

Olivier is a frequent speaker on inclusive business and the co-author of “Scaling up Business Solutions to Social Problems” published in 2015 by Palgrave Macmillan