Name: Olivier Altmann
Title: Chief Creative Officer Publicis Worldwide

Olivier fell in love with advertising at school when his teacher asked him to comment on an ad for a Teflon-coated frying pan. He wrote 17 pages instead of one. Curiously, 32 years later, he’s now working for the French Teflon utensil maker Tefal, but, as worldwide chief creative officer of Publicis. So what happened in between?

In 1987 Olivier set off as an intern at Y&R, before getting his first pay check at FCB. Three months later, he won his first Cannes Lion for Handy Bag (an award easier to win in those days). Then he moved to Australia (the agency, not the country) where he created a breakthrough 90-second television ad that showed nothing but pure silence.

In 1992 he joined BDDP (now TBWA Paris) where he honed his skills, producing award-winning work for BMW, Epson and Caisse d’Epargne, to name just a few .

Six years later BDDP’s founders urged Olivier to start his own agency (with two partners) and that’s how BDDP&Fils was born. This small outfit rapidly earned the reputation of being the best creative agency in France - three years in a row (2000, 2001, 2002), and the sixth worldwide (Gunn Report). It even won the Eurobest Grand Prix in 2001.

That may well be why Olivier was elected President of the French Art Directors Club and became CEO of his agency in 2003.

In 2004, Maurice Levy offered Olivier the role of Co-Chairman & Chief Creative Officer of the network's flagship agency Publicis Conseil. A year later, Publicis Conseil landed the Eurobest Grand Prix and was voted the second best agency in Europe. In 2008, Publicis Conseil was voted Creative Agency of the Year and Best Advertising Agency, while Olivier was named Creative Director of the Year. And he won that distinction again last year.

November 2009 saw Olivier promoted to the new role of Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Worldwide and he has become a member of the Worldwide Executive Committee.

During his career, Olivier has worked for some of the world’s most iconic brands including Mercedes, Nestlé, Michelin, Club Med, Samsung, Wonderbra, Orange and Renault. He has won numerous awards, including Cannes Gold Lions, Clio Golds, One Show, two Eurobest Grand Prix, D&AD and the French Art Directors Club. He is regularly invited to sit on juries at Cannes, D&AD, the Clios, and has been twice Chairman of the Eurobest Jury.

After 23 years in the business, he’s still in love with advertising.