Marc Oliva

My name is Marc Oliva and I am originally from Reus, Tarragona, Spain. I did my undergrad at Texas A&M University and got my Masters in Management at IE. I interned at the Embassy of Spain in Washington DC and after my Masters I worked at the EMEA HQ of Burger King Europe in Switzerland in the M&A and Marketing Teams. Four years ago I decided to let go of my "Corporate Career" to take unto a different kind of challenge, joining my three-generation family business in the automotive sector. Shortly after joining Oliva Group, I persuaded our board to let me startup a new company within the group launching an Import and Distribution company of 100% Electric Trucks in Spain and Portugal. Three and a half years later we are the n1 sold Electric truck in Spain with 21% market share and we have saved over 900tn of CO2 emissions in 2024 alone. Our cutomers include CocaCola, Heineken, Makro, Mahou, Eroski or Ajuntament de Barcelona. I am an avid kitesurfer and traveler, you can probably find me on the water.

How did IE help you get to where you are today?

IE was a huge and crucial push in the beggining of my career. Most people probably don't realise that a "small" difference in a launch changes massively the destination in the long run. That's what IE did for me, it gave me the chance to obtain a top job at a top company very early on. By the age of 25 I was on a tremendous career path which in turn allowed me to make further aggresive moves.

What is the best advice you can give to a young individual starting his/her professional career?

Work hard, know your worth, make sure you become indispensable and choose the people you work with above the project itself.

What does the future have in store for you?

Back at IE I would have said President of the Spanish Government, hands down. Now I am too absorbed by the private sector and too disenchanted by the public one to envisage a jump into politics in the short run. But it is definitely in my mind for the long term. In the next decade I want to surpass the billion euro yearly sales in our company together with my brother. We will continue to grow internationally and race to become one of Europe's top players in the auto retail industry.