Grant O’Brien: Deep Woolworths Knowledge

Grant O’Brien is the current CEO of Woolworths the Australian supermarket giant.  He was appointed Managing Director and CEO effective October 1, 2011. While some companies hire outside talent for the top job Grant is an inside company man having a career with Woolworths that spans more than 25 years.

He started as an accountant in Purity Supermarkets in Tasmania, a division of Woolworths Limited. Other positions he has held included Marketing and Merchandising Manager of Purity, Director New Business Development, Chief Operating Officer Australian Food and Petrol, and Deputy Chief Executive Officer and CEO Designate.

Most companies would like to have their CEOs with deep knowledge and experience with regards to the company. Possessing this kind of information means the CEO cam make very informed decisions. Grant has this kind of knowledge because even when he wasn’t hired as an account in Tasmania he had already worked in the company before as a night filler stacking shelves at the Purity supermarkets, while studying accountancy in 1986.

Grant is one individual who really started from the bottom and worked his way to the top gaining knowledge and deep insight about Woolworths along the way.