Ollie Althorpe was born in Kettering England in 1950. He trained
in control and electronics engineering with the Royal Navy for five
years, and then spent a further seven years as an engineer working
on submarines.
His career in the electronics industry began in 1980 when he
joined Texas Instruments (TI) as a Field Sales Engineer within the
consumer segment. Between 1980 and 1983 he rose to become the
Consumer Regional Sales Manager and in 1984 he was appointed
Regional Sales Manager for a newly formed UK Geographic Segment
within TI.
In 1985, Althorpe joined SGS as the UK & Eire Distribution
and Industrial Segment Manager and successfully merged the
distribution networks of the newly created SGS-THOMSON
Microelectronics (now STMicroelectronics), enabling ST to become
the UK’s largest supplier into the distribution market some three
years later.
After many varied roles in sales and marketing at ST in Europe
and the USA he was appointed Area Manager, UK and Ireland, in
2001.
Outside of ST, Ollie Althorpe served as a Board Member for the
DTi’s Electronic Innovation Growth Team, considering the future of
the UK Electronics Industry. He is also a Board Director of
Semta, the industry’s Skills Council, currently Chairing the
Investment Committee. He is also the Chair of Electronics in
Schools, an organisation funded by the DfES targeted at supporting
teachers to promote and teach electronics to our future
engineers.