Oliver Harmar
Biography
Oliver has 20 years’ experience of working in the environmental field across the public, private and research sectors in the UK. He is particularly interested in how we collaborate, think differently, and inspire action.
Oliver was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Natural England in September 2021. He is responsible for delivery of the Natural England ambition, including:
- creating a great place to work for Natural England staff
- strengthening delivery with others
- leading organisational change.
Oliver previously spent 13 years at the Environment Agency, most recently as Area Director for Yorkshire, leading a team of over 600 people to improve the health of our rivers and coasts, manage and respond to flood risk, and strengthen climate resilience for people and wildlife.
Following a first degree and PhD in Geography, Oliver started his career in research and then moved to engineering consultant Halcrow where he led the delivery of national and international projects. Oliver is a Chartered Scientist, a Chartered Environmentalist, and is married with three young boys.
Chief Operating Officer
The COO is responsible for leadership of the:
- 14 area teams that deliver Natural England’s outcomes across the breadth of its remit
- national teams that support outcome delivery and enable innovation and strategic change
Responsibilities include:
- bringing alive Defra’s strategy and joint working across the Defra Group at a local level
- managing Natural England’s reputation and profile at a local level
- gathering intelligence to inform policy development and strategy development
- developing better ways of doing things
- delivering cultural change associated with organisational reforms