2006 Civil Engineering Alumnus Year Award

2006 Civil Engineering Alumnus of the Year, Roger Olds

Mr Roger Olds, is the Civil Engineering Alumnus of the year for 2006. Roger is the Managing Director of Coffey International Ltd and has been in this role for 10 years. Roger obtained first class honours in civil engineering, graduating in 1978. He also has a diploma of geotechnical engineering which he received in 1992.

Roger's career has involved specialisation in geotechnical engineering. He commenced his career with Geotechnical Engineering, gaining practical hands-on field, laboratory and office experience. He then joined Coffey in 1979. Roger worked in Canada for some years, returning to Coffey in 1982 and continued to gain experience on a wide range of projects throughout Victoria and other parts of Australia.

In 1989 Roger was appointed Coffey Manager for Victoria and Tasmania, at a time when design and construct contracts were just commencing in Victoria. He became involved in several of these projects, including the grade separation of the Monash Freeway with Burke, Toorak and Tooronga Roads, and also the Western Ring Road. Roger also took on increasing management roles in Coffey before rising to Managing Director of the Group in 1996.

In his role as Managing Director of Coffey, Roger has seen staff numbers grow from 300 to 1700, and expansion of the business to be one of Australia's leading contractors in delivery of Australian aid projects, one of Australia's leading geotechnical, environmental and mining companies, and recently to expand into the project management field. Apart from expansion of activities into Asia, Coffey has more recently increased operations in the Middle East and has now established a presence in the British and European aid market.

Roger has blended a strong technical career with increasing roles in management and leadership. He is actively involved in the Australian engineering community with involvement in environmental initiatives.