Dan Olofsson

Dan Olof Olofsson (born 24 September 1950 in Ekenäs, Finland) is a Swedish entrepreneur, business leader and philanthropist.

Dan Olofsson
Born (1950-09-24) 24 September 1950
Ekenäs, Finland
NationalitySwedish
OccupationEntrepreneur, business leader and philanthropist
Spouse(s)
Christin
​
(m. 1973)​
ChildrenJohan
Andreas
Hanna

Biography

Dan Olofsson was born as the second oldest of five siblings in Ekenäs, Finland, where his father was employed as pastor of Karis from 1948 to 1951. His parents and family are rooted in Kaxås, in Jämtland in northern Sweden. When Olofsson was one year old his family moved to Malmö in southern Sweden, where he was brought up and still lives.[1][2]

Olofsson attended upper secondary technical school at Pauliskolan in Malmö and graduated as Master of Science in Engineering at Lunds Tekniska Högskola in 1974.[1] After his education, Olofsson began a career in the technology consulting industry. He started at VBB (what is now Sweco) where he during the 1979 oil-crisis became group manager for a new venture in energy technology.[3]

Later, Dan Olofsson proceeded to become region manager for Skandiaconsult's southern division and, after another year, business controller. After a conflict of interest amongst the owners, Olofsson chose to leave the company and, together with John Wattin and Ronny Forsberg he founded the consulting company Sapia in 1986. Olofsson was assigned the task of building its technical consultancy part, Sapia Teknik. In 1989, he became manager for the entire Sapia group. In 1993 Olofsson acquired Sapia Teknik along with its 400 employees. The company was renamed Sigma, and an IPO took place in 1997.[3][4]

By 2001, the business had grown to over 3,000 employees and Sigma was divided into three different stock exchange companies in each business area under the names Sigma, Epsilon and Teleca. Olofsson became chairman of the board and principal owner for all.[3][5] He has since managed the business through his own family-owned holding company Danir AB, where Dan Olofsson's son Johan Glennmo is the CEO.[6]

The Danir group

The Danir group consists of some 90 subsidiaries with more than 7,500 employees in fifteen countries. During a number of years, the group has had a healthy organic growth and in 2019, had a combined sale of SEK 6.4 billion. Sigma, a group of IT and tech consultancy companies, makes up the majority of the Danir group. The consultant brokers A Society, staffing and recruitment company Poolia, and the Thanda companies are also part of Danir.

Africa investments

After having devoted himself to his great hunting interest in Africa, Olofsson and his wife Christin in the early 2000's decided to build up the safari facility Thanda Safari with more than 14,000 hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal in eastern South Africa.[7] The facilities were inaugurated in 2004 by the Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekazulu and between 2009–2016 it has, amongst many awards, been named “The World’s Leading Luxury Lodge” by the World Travel Awards.[3][8] In 2016, the exclusive marine reserve resort, Thanda Island opened just off the coast of Tanzania and was chosen “The World’s Leading Exclusive Private Island” by World Travel Awards.[9]

Olofsson’s philanthropic commitment is best seen through the organization Star for Life, which he and his wife Christin launched in 2005. So far, 450,000 young people has participated in a three-year preventive programme against HIV/AIDS, promoting a healthy way of life, in South Africa, Namibia, and Sri Lanka.[10][11] Today, Star for Life is also established in Sweden as the foundation Motivationslyftet, aiming to strengthen young people's self-esteem and belief in the future.

Dan Olofsson is also the founder of the Thanda Foundation, working with nonprofit projects in KwaZulu-Natal.

Malmö and Project Kaxås

In the spring of 2011, Olofsson initiated the funding of "Uppstart Malmö", a trust aimed at creating more job opportunities in the under-privileged areas of his hometown Malmö. The concept behind the trust is to offer advice, support and financial help to local entrepreneurs who want to develop their business ideas and create more jobs, and to help young people and immigrants enter the labor market.[12] Altogether 2,700 people have found work through this initiative.

Danir is also the main sponsor of Sweden's leading women's football club FC Rosengård, who runs the very successful labour market project; Boost by FC Rosengård.

Aiming to counteract the depopulation in villages in Norrland’s interior, Project Kaxås was launched in 2019. The idea is to invest in young families wanting to live a safe life, close to nature, and yet with access to a well-functioning labour market in Östersund and Åre.

After only a year, contracts have been signed with 17 families who are now gradually moving to Kaxås from different locations in Sweden. For a village with 100 inhabitants, this is a significant change. The eco-village Ladriket, with its 37 single-family houses, is an important part of Project Kaxås.

Miscellaneous

In the autumn of 2012, Olofsson’s autobiography Mina tre liv (“My three lives”) was published by the publishing house Ekerlids Förlag. The book has received particular attention for its claim that the Swedish government should have committed a financial miscarriage of justice at financier Maths O Sundqvist.[13]

In recent years, Olofsson has actively participated in the public debate on issues relating to business conditions and entrepreneurship, about the defense of freedom of choice in welfare, and about the need for a policy that combines a positive climate for companies with social responsibility.

Bibliography

My three lives: about enterprise, engagement and violation of justice. Stockholm: Ekerlid. Libris. ISBN 9789187391187

Awards
  • 2001 – South Swedish county of Skåne's Greatest Entrepreneur
  • 2004 – City of Malmö Ambassador of the Year
  • 2008 – The Pegasus Prize[14]
  • 2008 – The Community Philanthropy Award at Global Business Coalition in New York[10]
  • 2011 – Entrepreneurial Role model of the Year by Founders Alliance
  • 2011 – H.M. The King's Medal 12th size for important contributions to Swedish business and philanthropic commitment[15]
  • 2012 – The Royal Patriotic Society Business Medal for outstanding entrepreneurship[16]
  • 2012 – The magazine Veckans Affärer’s Social Capitalist Award, given to role models who through business try to solve problems in society[17]
  • 2015 – Olofsson was honored with the Swedish Region Skåne's award for exceptional efforts for the development of Skåne[18]
  • 2015 – Awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Technology and Society at Malmö University in Malmö, Sweden, for contributing to resolve societal problems through the use of information and communication technology[19]
  • 2015 – Awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of FASTA in Argentine, for his citizenship and philanthropic efforts in Africa and Sweden[20]
  • 2015 – Awarded The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise' (Swedish: Svenskt Näringsliv) Nicolin Prize for his contributions to the public debate for a better understanding of the importance of enterprises[21]
  • 2018 – Dan Olofsson is chosen to become a member of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Leadership Council[22]
  • 2019 – Appointed 2019's Growth Entrepreneur in Malmö, Sweden[23]

References
  1. "Hemma bäst för IT-kungen", Sydsvenskan, 23 September 2010 (in Swedish)
  2. "IT-miljardären Dan har hittat sin oas i Malmö", Kvällsposten, 9 September 2012 (in Swedish)
  3. "Veckans Affärer: Prästsonen som blev miljardär och startade eget naturreservat". Veckans affärer. Archived from the original on 2015-07-19. Retrieved 2018-12-10. Alt URL
  4. "Sigmas erbjudande övertecknat 40 ggr" Archived 2014-03-11 at the Wayback Machine, Pressmeddelande Sigma AB., 10 February 1997 (in Swedish)
  5. "Sigma delas upp i tre bolag - Affärsvärlden". 2014-03-11. Archived from the original on 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  6. "Olofsson lämnar över ägandet". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  7. "VA Profil: Dan Olofsson - Miljardärer". Veckans affärer. Archived from the original on 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2018-12-10. Alt URL
  8. "World Travel Awards 2012"
  9. "Africa's Leading Luxury Island 2017". World Travel Awards. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  10. "Community Philanthropy Award Commended (2008)" Archived 2013-07-04 at Archive.today, GBCHealth, 31 October 2008
  11. "Jag känner att jag vill ge tillbaka", Aftonbladet, 18 oktober 2011 (in Swedish)
  12. "Dan Olofsson och Luciano Astudillo: Malmös entreprenörer satsar på att skapa nya jobb", Sydsvenskan, 28 februari 2011 (in Swedish)
  13. "Göran Skytte: På ett ögonblick kan allt förändras", Svenska Dagbladet, 30 September 2012 (in Swedish)
  14. "Dan Olofsson prisad på gala" Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine, Sydsvenskan, 14 mars 2008 (in Swedish)
  15. "Medaljförläningar 6 juni 2011", Sveriges Kungahus, 6 juni 2011 (in Swedish)
  16. "Dan Olofsson får Näringslivsmedalj för framstående entreprenörskap", Pressmeddelande från Kungliga patriotiska sällskapet, 25 April 2012 (in Swedish)
  17. "Samhällskapitalistdagen", Veckans Affärer, 5 September 2012 (in Swedish)
  18. "Dan Olofsson prisas av Region Skåne", Sydsvenskan, 9 februari 2015 (in Swedish)
  19. "Dan Olofsson will be awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Technology and Society", www.mah.se, 9 october 2015
  20. "El Mg. Dan Olofsson será investido Doctor Honoris Causa por la Universidad FASTA", www.ufasta.edu.ar, 9 november 2015 (in Spanish)
  21. "Dan Olofsson prisas för sitt samhällsengagemang". 2015-12-22. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  22. "Dan Olofsson tar plats i Kennedyklanens människorättsorganisation". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  23. "Här är alla vinnarna i Malmö näringslivsgala". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-07-08.
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