Skip to main content

Kenneth Olisa



Ken's technology career spans over 30 years, commencing with IBM where he held various posts in systems, engineering, sales and marketing, before joining Wang Laboratories in 1981.

Ken moved on to test his entrepreneurial mettle by founding Interregnum in 1992 which was floated on London’s AIM exchange in 2000.

At Interregnum, Ken worked at the forefront of the entrepreneur/technology growth cycle.

As well as serving on the Boards of many of Interregnum’s investment and advisory clients, Ken notched up some interesting firsts, including chairing the IPO of Vossnet, the UK’s first Internet Service Provider (ISP) DMATEK the first Israeli technology company to be listed on AIM. He was also a principal advisor to, and Director of, uDate.com - one the UK’s few dotcom successes which was sold to USA Interactive in 2003.

Ken retired from Interregnum in 2006 and founded boutique technology merchant bank – Restoration Partners. He is a Director of Thomson Reuters and Canadian software developer – Open Text, and serves on the Board of, or is an adviser to, several privately held and innovative companies including Prevx, BioWisdom, Independent Audit and Metapraxis.

A believer in the Victorian ethos that successful commerce is the fuel of public service, Ken is a Freeman of the City of London; a Warden of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists; Director of the Reuters Foundation; Chairman of homeless charity Thames Reach; and was an inaugural Postal Services Commissioner from 2001 to 2004.

In 2003 Ken won the BVCA/Real Deals Private Equity Personality of the Year Award and in 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the British Computer Society, becoming a Vice President in 2007.

In 2008, a panel led by Baroness Amos of Brondesbury drew up the Powerlist 2008 published this week by Powerful Media.

Ken was recognised for his business and charitable achievements, including directorships of two FTSE 100 companies (ENRC and Thomson Reuters) and long-term chairmanship of Thames Reach - a charity determined to end street homelessness in London by 2012.

The Powerlist highlighted that there are only two FTSE100 companies whose boards include black directors, and Ken is two of them.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ifeyinwa Aniebo

Ify Aniebo is currently a PhD student at the University of Oxford. She has a first degree in Medical Genetics from Queen Mary’s University, a MSc in Applied Bimolecular Technology from Nottingham University and has a scholarship from the Prince’s Trust. Ify has worked at TDL Genetics, Mediserve, the Cambridge Antibody Technology (Medimmune), Illumina Inc , the Sanger Institute, Cambridge and the Wellcome-Oxford-WHO unit in Thailand. She has presented her research at leading malaria research conferences around the world. Passionate about finding a cure to Malaria, her ambition is to discover a vaccine to the biggest killer disease in sub-Saharan Africa. At the recent 2010 edition of the Future Awards, Ifeyinwa was named the Scientist of the Year and Future Awards most prestigious award - Young Person of the Year. The Future Awards, described as Nigeria’s biggest youth event, is the flagship platform under The Future Project, which is an umbrella of youth development projects/programmes

King Onyeama of Eke

The King of Agbaja, Onyeama n’Eke was the greatest king in northern Igboland. He was probably the greatest Igbo king in living memory. From his palace in Eke, Onyeama reigned over the entire Agbaja, from Oji River though Udi and Ezeagu to the present-day political capital of Igboland, Enugu, and even Nkanu and Ogui communities. Onyeama was born circa 1870s, the youngest of the ten children of Özö Omulu Onwusi, a polygamous titled man of means, and an only son of his mother – Chinazungwa Ijeonyeabo of nearby Ebe community. Brought up by his half-brother, Amadiezeoha Nwankwo-Onwusi, Onyeama worked hard and made his mark in business. He traveled to famous Aro-controlled trading centers including Abiriba, Arochukwu, Arondizuogu, Bende, Oguta, Uburu, etc. When British rule reached Eke in 1908, Onyeama was rich enough to buy his way into the Ozo title society and to marry a local beauty, Afia Nwirediagu, and later Gwachi Ebue. Onyema attended the British Empire Exhibition in May 1924 and was

Amarachi Attamah

Amarachi Attamah is an award-winning Chant Performance Artist, Performance Poet, Broadcaster, Festival Manager, Creative Entrepreneur and a strong passionate voice in the sustainability of the Igbo language. She has a Master’s in Mass Communication from the University of Nigeria and trained as a festival manager with the British Council. She is also the founder of the ỌJA Cultural Development Initiative, organisers of the annual ỌJA Cultural Festival. Amarachi is the Executive Director of Nwadioramma Concept and the Enugu State Vice Chairperson of Association of Nigerian Authors and has spoken about IGBO culture and language advocacy on platforms including TEDx, British Council Creative Hustle and at many schools.  She has also performed in numerous virtual events through the Pandemic including Igbo Conference organised in the UK, Abuja Literary Festival, Nigeria, Global Poetry Festival organised by Shared_Studio and Divercities poetry connect by Planet Word Museum, both of US based or