Jim O'Sullivan
Non-Executive Director, Major Projects Association
Jim started his career at British Airways serving an apprenticeship as an aircraft mechanic and then carrying out front line maintenance on the aircraft fleet. He has kept this affinity for front line staff throughout his career caring deeply about their safety and the expectations that organisations and senior leaders place upon them.
In an 18 year career with British Airways he held a number of operational and engineering posts. He was Technical Director for the airline, Chief Engineer for Concorde leading the largest maintenance check ever performed on a civil airliner at around 200,000 manhours. He was also Vice President for the B777 leading the development and $4bn delivery programme while based at Boeing in Seattle.
He spent nine years in utilities, including 3 years as Safety and Engineering Director at National Grid where he initiated the national gas mains replacement program and 4 years as Operations and Capital Delivery Director at Eon’s electricity Distribution Network. During this period he was also a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the ORR. After this he was with Heathrow Airport Holdings where he was Managing Director of Edinburgh Airport during it’s sale process and then oversaw the sale of their regional airports.
He served as Chief Executive at Highways England from 2015 to 2021 He led the newly established company to the successful delivery of the Government’s first Road Investment Strategy including the delivery of a £13bn capital programme, major advances in road user, contractor, and staff safety, and a new focus on treating road users and transport companies as customers. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the staff network programme focusing on inclusion and fairness.
Jim is currently a Non-Executive Director for Macquarie Asset Management at Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports and has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
He has a degree in Air Transport Engineering at City University in London. He holds an MBA from Lancaster and is an Alumni of the Senior Executive Programme at MIT in Boston USA.
In an 18 year career with British Airways he held a number of operational and engineering posts. He was Technical Director for the airline, Chief Engineer for Concorde leading the largest maintenance check ever performed on a civil airliner at around 200,000 manhours. He was also Vice President for the B777 leading the development and $4bn delivery programme while based at Boeing in Seattle.
He spent nine years in utilities, including 3 years as Safety and Engineering Director at National Grid where he initiated the national gas mains replacement program and 4 years as Operations and Capital Delivery Director at Eon’s electricity Distribution Network. During this period he was also a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the ORR. After this he was with Heathrow Airport Holdings where he was Managing Director of Edinburgh Airport during it’s sale process and then oversaw the sale of their regional airports.
He served as Chief Executive at Highways England from 2015 to 2021 He led the newly established company to the successful delivery of the Government’s first Road Investment Strategy including the delivery of a £13bn capital programme, major advances in road user, contractor, and staff safety, and a new focus on treating road users and transport companies as customers. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the staff network programme focusing on inclusion and fairness.
Jim is currently a Non-Executive Director for Macquarie Asset Management at Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports and has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
He has a degree in Air Transport Engineering at City University in London. He holds an MBA from Lancaster and is an Alumni of the Senior Executive Programme at MIT in Boston USA.