Our Leadership

Mr Gautam Wadhwa is a senior transformation and value-creation leader with over two decades of experience spanning consulting, investing, operations and entrepreneurship. His career has been defined by leading complex change mandates – working across multiple ownership models and geographies to stabilise, transform and ultimately reposition businesses for long-term value or exit. He began his career at McKinsey & Company before joining Temasek Holdings, where he was involved in large-scale investments across regions and sectors. Gautam then moved into leadership roles, including founding and exiting his own business. His later roles spanned across private equity backed platforms and diversified portfolios where he led complex M&A transactions and drove turnaround and transformation efforts across a range of industries.

Mr Venkataraman Krishnan joined Olam in 2006 as part of the Strategic Investments (SIBD) team. He was the Global Head of SIBD from 2017 to 2021. During his stint in SIBD, he was involved in several transformative acquisitions including those in Grains milling in Africa, Dairy manufacturing in New Zealand, joint venture (JV) with Wilmar and SIFCA group in Ivory Coast and Cotton ginning in Australia, US and Brazil. He also played a catalytic role in the rationalisation of Olam’s portfolio including the divestments of several businesses. Venkat led Olam in the US$1 billion development financing from global and regional institutions like IFC, ADB, AfDB and EBRD.

Venkat was appointed Chief Financial Officer of OGH in 2021 and is a member of the executive team group in Olam.

Venkat holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Thiagarajar college of Engineering, Tamilnadu, India, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, India and is a CFA Charterholder.

Mr Rajeev Kadam began his career with the Kewalram Chanrai Group in Sierra Leone in 1990 before joining Olam in 1994. Over the past three decades, he has worked in the field of internal audit and risk management and was pivotal in the establishment and development of Olam’s Internal Audit and Risk Management functions. Rajeev is currently the President and Global Head of Internal Audit.

Rajeev holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Bombay with professional qualifications from The Institute of Chartered Accountants and The Institute of Internal Auditors. He is also a Certified Internal Auditor and previously served as a Governor on the Board of The Institute of Internal Auditors, Singapore (2005 to 2008).

Mr Darshan Raiyani joined Olam in 1995 and in the last three decades held several management roles, from establishing the Group’s coffee business in India, serving as Country Head in Indonesia and establishing the coffee sourcing and processing operations, serving as Country Head in Côte d’Ivoire and overseeing the Timber, Cashew, Rice, Sesame and Sheanuts businesses, and becoming the Global Head for the Group’s Wood Products business. Since the commencement of the re-organisation of the Group, Darshan became the President and CEO of Olam’s plantations business, overseeing Olam Palm Gabon and Olam Rubber Gabon.

Darshan holds a degree in Mechanical Engineer from Gujarat, India, and an MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.

Mr Sumanta Kumar De joined Olam in 2005 as a branch manager in Olam’s Indonesian cocoa operations and now brings with him industry experience of 25 years, leading and managing businesses in emerging markets including Indonesia and Russia. Prior to joining Olam, he held positions in business development and brand management with The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever.

Sumanta is currently President and Regional Head for Russia, overseeing Olam’s businesses in the region, including dairy farming, crop production, elevation services, dairy supply chain, coffee and cocoa. As the CEO of Rusmolco, Group’s dairy business in Russia, he manages a 156,000 ha land bank in Penza region with a workforce of over 1,800 employees, and producing over 250 million liters of premium milk annually.

Sumanta holds a post-graduate in Personnel management and Industrial relations from Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), India. 

Mr Mukul Mathur joined Olam in 2009. Mukul has held several senior leadership roles in Olam including Country Head, Nigeria and subsequently, President and Regional Controller for West Africa (Nigeria and Benin). He was appointed President and CEO of Caraway Group (Packaged Foods Business) in 2020.

Prior to Olam, Mukul built over two decades of leadership experience with Reckitt Benckiser and Pepsico in sales and marketing, holding roles such as Regional Category Director, Director of Sales and Director for Non-Carbonated Beverages.

Mukul holds a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from IIT BHU Varanasi, India and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, India.

Mr Suresh Sundararajan joined Olam in 1996 and held functional leadership roles including Corporate Affairs, Investor Relations, Legal Risk and Market Compliance. He was previously the Group’s Chief Digital Information Officer and had led Olam in the enterprise-wide digital transformation initiatives.

Suresh was pivotal in establishing the shared services and digital arm of Olam, which is today’s Mindsprint Group, delivering AI-led solutions to modernise the next generation of enterprises in their transformation journeys. He is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Mindsprint.

Suresh holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Madras, is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India, and a certified Company Secretary from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.