Dan Olofsson

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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 is 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 in 1948 to 1951. Parents and family is 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 is living.[1][2]

Dan Olofsson completed 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.[4]

Since the start in 1986, Sigma, Epsilon and Teleca has grown from zero to approximately 6,000 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 20 companies, with currently more than 1,500 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 South Africa and in Malmö

In recent years, Dan Olofsson has developed a strong commitment in South Africa. One example of this is Thanda Private Game Reserve, which in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 was awarded the World Travel Award as ”The world’s leading luxury lodge”.[8]

His philanthropic commitment is best seen through the organization Star for Life, which he and his wife Christin launched in 2005. Today, Star for Life includes 100,000 young people in a preventive program against hiv/aids in South Africa, Namibia, and Sri Lanka.[9][10]

Dan Olofsson is also the founder of the Thanda Foundation. Together with the former South African president Nelson Mandela's family and Mvezo Development Trust, Thanda Foundation operates a project to develop Nelson Mandela's birthplace Mvezo in Eastern Cape Province in South Africa.[11]

Together with Kent Widding Persson, main sponsor of Malmö Ladies’ football Club LdB FC Malmö, Dan Olofsson is one of the entrepreneurs behind World Village of Women Sports in Malmö. Once completed, the village will be a unique centre for research and training within every area of women’s sports.[12]

In the spring of 2011, Dan Olofsson initiated the funding of ”Uppstart Malmö”, a trust aimed at creating for 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. [13]

Awards

Dan Olofsson has received several plaudits for his work. These include being voted South Swedish county of Skåne’s Greatest Entrepreneur, 2001, Malmö ambassador of the year, 2004, The Pegasus Prize, 2008,[14] Community Philanthropy Award at Global Business Coalition in New York 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, 2011.[15] In 2012 Dan Olofsson was awarded The Royal Patriotic Society Business Medal for outstanding entrepreneurship,[16] Also in 2012 Dan Olofsson received the magazine Veckans Affärer’s Social Capitalist Award. It’s given to role models who through business try to solve problems in society.[17]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "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 februari 1997 (Swedish)
  4. ↑ [http://www.affarsvarlden.se/hem/nyheter/article2568473.ece, "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. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "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. ↑ "Kronprinsessan bär storprojektet", Sydsvenskan, 24 April 2011 (Swedish)
  13. ↑ "Dan Olofsson och Luciano Astudillo: Malmös entreprenörer satsar på att skapa nya jobb", Sydsvenskan, 28 februari 2011 (Swedish)
  14. ↑ "Dan Olofsson prisad på gala", Sydsvenskan, 14 mars 2008 (Swedish)
  15. ↑ "Medaljförläningar 6 juni 2011", Sveriges Kungahus, 6 juni 2011 (Swedish)
  16. ↑ "Dan Olofsson får Näringslivsmedalj för framstående entreprenörskap", Pressmeddelande från Kungliga patriotiska sällskapet, 25 April 2012 (Swedish)
  17. ↑ "Samhällskapitalistdagen", Veckans Affärer, 5 September 2012 (Swedish)

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