Corporate Governance

At Olympia Group, good governance starts with a culture of transparency and inclusion where everyone feels valued and able to challenge and contribute

Good Governance

At Olympia Group, good governance starts with a culture of transparency and inclusion where everyone feels valued and able to challenge and contribute. The group knows that good governance comes from a strong Board of Directors that foster positive social impact and economic value creation, that works as a driver of organizational success. Olympia Group works hard to ensure the existence of a strong Boards of Directors for its subsidiaries, making it a priority for the group to empower them and to promote close co-operation with them, providing assistance when needed.

The founder of the group, Panos Germanos, retains the role of mentor to the board and management, providing guidance and advice.

Board of Directors

The Olympia Group Board of Directors currently consists of eight highly experienced members, with broad and diverse business experience, out of which three are Non-Executive Independent Directors. Our Board of Directors promotes the richness of opinion and it encourages productive dialogue thus ensuring that the decision-making process is thorough, well-thought out and substantial.

Board of Directors

Ioannis Karagiannis is Executive Chairman of the Olympia Group. During the course of his career, he has held senior executive roles at the Group and its investee companies and has been instrumental in the success of a number of investments, including in the launch of Play, the largest mobile company in Poland, where he was Chairman of the Board.

He currently also serves as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board at Public Group and as a member of the Board at Westnet.

A seasoned executive with a wealth of experience in Marketing, Sales and General Management, across the telecommunications, retail and FMCG sectors, Ioannis Karagiannis is also Board member of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises.

From 2002 to 2008 he held the role of Chief Executive Officer at Germanos S.A.

Mr. Karagiannis holds an MBA from Bradford Management School and a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens.

Robby Bourlas currently holds the role of Chief Executive Officer at Olympia Group. He also serves as Chairman of the Board at Sunlight Systems and Westnet – subsidiary companies of Olympia Group.

Before taking the role of group CEO in 2018, Mr. Bourlas was Chairman and CEO of Westnet, a technology distribution company and subsidiary of the Olympia Group. He joined Olympia Group in 2006 as Business Development Director of Public, another subsidiary of the Olympia Group. He took on the role of Managing Director of Public in 2008, before becoming the company’s CEO in 2012.

Mr. Bourlas began his career in 1999 as a Senior Analyst at First Manhattan Consulting Group, in New York. Between 2003 and 2006 he served as Commercial Director in Easy Group, London.

Robby Bourlas holds a BSc and an MSc from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Cornell University, New York, as well as an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston.

Tatiana Fafaliou serves as a member of the Olympia Group Board as a Non-Executive Director since 2013 and Chair of the Audit Committee. She also currently holds the role of CEO of Folloe Capital Investors and Director at the Folloe Fund VCIC, positions she has held since 2017.

Prior to this she held the position of Chief Investment Officer at Olympia Group (2007-2017). She also worked as Investor Relations Officer at Germanos SA between 2004 and 2007.

Ms. Fafaliou spent four years with JP Morgan in London working within the European Derivatives Trading and Asset Management departments(2000-2004).

Ms. Fafaliou holds a BSc Degree in International Economics and Finance from the Athens University of Economics & Business and a Postgraduate Degree in Economics of Transition for Eastern Europe and Russia from London School of Economics.

Georgios Xirouchakis is the General Counsel and Director of Legal Services of Olympia Group and he serves as Executive Director at the Olympia Group Board of Directors. He sits on several boards of various holding and operating companies within the group and he was also a Board Member of the Greek National Museum of Contemporary Art. (2014-2020).

Before taking the role of Group Legal Counsel in 2008, Mr. Xirouchakis, spent two years working as Head of Legal Services for Public (2006-2008), after working for five years within the legal services division of Germanos SA.

Before joining the group, he worked for several well-recognized law firms in Athens specializing in the sphere of corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and companies’ transformations, corporate financing, tax, and real estate projects.

He has been a member of the Athens Bar Association for the last 20 years. Since 2018 he has been regularly listed in the yearly “Legal 500 General Counsel Powerlist” for Greece and Cyprus.

George Xirouchakis holds a BSc in Economics and a BSc in Law as well as an M.B.A. (with a major in Finance) from the University of Leicester. In 2018 he completed an executive education program in Harvard Law School.

George Michos serves as a member of the Olympia Group Board of Directors as an Independent Non-Executive Director.

George is the Chief Executive Officer of the Steel Segment of Viohalco SA, comprising leading companies in steel production and recycling in Southeastern Europe, namely Sidenor, Sovel, Stomana and Dojran Steel, and having a market presence in more than 50 countries.

He previously held leadership positions for 20 years in the cement / construction materials sector in Asia, Europe, and Africa, in global and regional roles. Most recently, he was the Chief Executive Officer of LafargeHolcim Maroc, one of the major publicly listed industrial companies in Africa. George also has professional experience in management consulting (with Bain & Company) and private equity.

He has graduated from the National Technical University of Athens in Electrical and Computer Engineering and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

George Tsourapas serves as a member of the Olympia Group Board of Directors as an Independent Director. He previously served as a member of P&G’s Global Executive Leadership Council and a member of the Glad Joint Venture Board of Directors.

George Tsourapas served for 33 years in Procter & Gamble reaching the position of President Global Home Care and Professional Products. He has an extensive track record for leading superior business and organisational results across global organisations in developed and emerging markets. His expertise spans across product and business model innovation, brand creation, organizational transformation, retail strategy and execution, end to end supply chain reinvention, and strategic partnerships.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Greece and a Master of Science in Management and Computer Sciences from Cranfield University, UK.