Mark Oliver

Managing Director and CEO
BA(Hons), M.Eng MA(Cantab) FCIPD FAHRI GAICD ILPF

Mark has three honours degrees from Cambridge University where he gained his Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Master of Arts and Master of Chemical Engineering. Then he joined the British Army where he continued his education first at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) and then at the Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME). Serving in the "Sappers", he gained experience in leadership, training, assessment and project management, and worked in the Falkland Islands, United Kingdom, Germany, Cyprus, Belize, Mexico, Brunei, Hong Kong, South Korea and Nepal. He finished his military education by passing the Junior Division Staff College (JDSC).

Mark retired as a Captain from the Army in 1993 after qualifying for the rank of Major. He worked for a short time in the City of London before coming to Australia on contract to work for Comalco as a Principal Adviser in human resources. He worked with numerous divisions in Rio Tinto Australia, improving the leadership and assessment/ recruitment systems within the wider organization.

Mark joined DDI as a Senior Consultant and became an Australian Citizen three years later. While at DDI - a leading global human resources consultancy - he worked with a wide range of Australian and international businesses from Australia's most profitable company down to small organizations. He specialized in improving business performance by maximizing people performance in harmony with business strategy. After three years at DDI, Mark joined Alexander Paterson as a full time Melbourne based Senior Associate. In association with Blessing White - a leading American human resources consultancy - Mark again supported all three parts of the business - Organizational Development, Learning & Development, and Recruiting, Assessment & Selection.

Mark set up the Melbourne based consultancy - MarkTwo Consulting - in 2002. It works with global organizations worldwide and in four key areas which help to support organizational progress and change: Organizational Development, Learning & Development, Recruiting, Assessment & Selection and Executive Coaching. Mark has been designing and implementing assessment & developmental centres and workshops to enhance leadership and selection in Australia, New Zealand, USA (in Washington, San Hose and Dallas), UK, Switzerland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Africa, Dubai and Fujairah UAE, involving participants from around the world.

MarkTwo Consulting's Intellectual Property shows a leading understanding of human intelligence and how human psychology impacts both the work place and good leadership. Mark has been interviewed on national TV and prime time radio, and written up in national newspapers to do with capability, selection, recruitment and assessment. He has also been interviewed about leadership and sport on Australian and Hong Kong radio.

Mark is a Fellow of both the Australian Human Resources Institute and Institute of Learning Practitioners, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, as well as a full member of the Australian Association of Psychological Type and Australian Society of Authors. He is married with two children and enjoys cycling (as he is now too old for soccer!) He has also won several medals in Open Black Belt Full Contact Taekwondo competitions, including the Gold Medal in the Victorian 1998 Open Full Contact Championships.

Testimonial (read more...)

I have been fortunate enough to have attended a number of courses aimed at providing insight and guidance into leadership, but none has provided a lasting impression in the way which Mark was able to offer. The depth of understanding and the ability to convey that understanding so that it makes sense to a broad range of participants left me ready, willing and able to make positive changes to my work and my personal life. Armed with models which rationalise what makes you tick and how that is perceived by others with a potentially different set of motivations it is almost certain that individuals will want to put their learning into practice and reap the benefits not only as individuals but also as team members and leaders. Enjoy the other courses while they last, once you have been educated by MarkTwo Consulting you will wonder how you managed before and you will know how to lead in the future" - Philip Holliday, Executive General Manager Operations & Harbour Master, Sydney Ports Corporation