Ben Verwaayen

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Bernardus Johannes Maria "Ben" Verwaayen (born Driebergen, February 11, 1952) is a Dutch businessman. He was CEO of BT^[1], and stood down on 1 June 2008 when Ian Livingston (former Chief Executive of BT Retail) took over.^[2]

Verwaayen studied law and international relations at Utrecht University, obtaining a degree in 1975. He then worked for various departments of ITT Corporation, and also obtained another degree from Utrecht (1983), in public administration. In 1988, he became director of KPN, then still a public company under the name PTT Telecom. He was appointed a board member of Lucent Technologies in 1997. Verwaayen also was a board member for Endemol.

Verwaayen has been a long time member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. He sat in its executive for ten years, and also contributed to its election programme for the 2006 Dutch elections. At various times, he was linked with a Cabinet position.

During his military service, Verwaayen founded the Algemene Vereniging Nederlandse Militairen (General Association of Dutch soldiers), a union that existed until 1996.

Verwaayen has received various honorary awards and has been made an Honorary knight of the British Empire, KBE (United Kingdom), Chevalier de la Légion d 'Honneur (France) and Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau (Netherlands).