Molly Harriss Olson

Molly Harriss Olson's Biography

As CEO of Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand, Molly Harriss Olson wants to put an end to human exploitation by delivering transparent supply chains throughout the world.

She says there are an estimated 160 million people in slavery, and the hidden nature of the supply, trade, and manufacture of many goods shields us from the human cost of things. Fairtrade is an alternate trading system that holds famers, traders, and manufacturers accountable for the conditions and wellbeing of their workers.

Molly was raised in a Quaker family in Paolo Alto. She moved to Australia in her forties after four years in the Clinton White House where she was Executive Director of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development.

Molly has been a significant leader in the field of sustainable business development for thirty years, serving on numerous international boards.

But whether working in the White House, or from a tiny village outside Canberra, Molly is fulfilling the purpose she discovered as a college student.

Recognized for her three decades of leadership in sustainable development, Molly has convened, driven and contributed to numerous boards, business leadership and sustainability initiatives. She speaks widely to senior business, government and civic leadership groups, sharing her expertise in sustainability, economic redesign, green building innovation, fair trade and development issues.

Among Molly’s achievements, in 1995 – at the age of 35, Molly was selected as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders for Tomorrow, a list of recognized influencers in the world community. She was named a ‘Woman to Watch into 2000’ by Business Class magazine and in 2014 she won the Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Award, recognized in the ‘global influence’ category for her contribution to international development and sustainability.

Ms Olson worked in the White House during the time of President Clinton as the Founding Executive Director of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development. Appointed by President Clinton in 1993, the 25 member Council was a ground-breaking partnership whose membership came from high-ranking representatives of industry, government, environmental, labour and civil rights organisations.

The Council was commissioned to develop a broad-based national action strategy on sustainable development and in March 1996 submitted its report, Sustainable America: A New Consensus, to President Clinton.

Ms Olson previously served on the Boards of The Australia Institute, Global Action Plan, the Green Building Council of Australia, the AMP Sustainable Investments Alpha Advisory Board, Australia 21, Clean up the World, Clean up Australia, “G” Magazine Editorial Board, and was the Founding Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of Ecos Magazine (CSIRO Publishers).

Molly has also served on the Australian Building Energy Council, the Environment Management Industry Association of Australia, the Australian National Committee for the Earth Charter, the International Advisory Council for the Foreign Policy Association (NY), and the Premier’s Climate Council of Queensland under the Hon Anna Bligh.

Speaking Topics Include

Sustainable Development
Sustainable Business Innovation
Green Investment / Green Economic Reform
World Economic Forum
Sustainable Development Index