Olivia has always been fascinated with science and low carbon energy. After studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, she wanted to be at the forefront of the transition within the energy sector, so joining bp felt like a natural fit. She joined us in August 2019 on the Trading & Shipping challenger programme.
As a bp scholar at university, Olivia had known about careers at bp since the beginning of her undergraduate course. Through the scholarship, she gained insight into bp, our culture and the different career paths available. This led to her doing an internship in Trading & Shipping in her penultimate year, and joining the team as a graduate the following summer.
When I was on the scholarship programme and doing the internship, everyone was helpful and there were always people willing to give up their time to talk to you. I couldn't see myself working anywhere else - I really liked the bp culture
Learning in a fast-paced environment
Currently, Olivia works as a part of a team that operates the logistics behind the biodiesel that bp moves around the world. She’s enjoying learning about how the biodiesel market operates and understanding the regulation that predominantly drives it. “There’s a lot of exciting growth areas in this space, from more advanced waste feedstocks to sustainableaviation fuel,” she says.
One of the things Olivia loves about working in commodity markets is the global, fast-paced nature of the work: “the markets are constantly moving and are affected by events all around the world. I'll read something about climate change, or the energy transition every single day at work. And I love that because I feel like I'm really in the thick of it,” she says.
In addition, one of Olivia’s long-term career aspirations is to become part of the low area of bp, which is why she is proud to have been able to pursue this area of interest outside of her core role. She joined ‘strategy plus’, a graduate project looking at bp’s low carbon strategy and the skills needed to unlock bp’s capability in this space.
Driving change from the inside
Given her passion for low carbon energy and her interest in how the energy sector is going to transition, Olivia sees bp’s new net zero ambition as a step in the right direction.
We've had massive strategy and purpose updates since I’ve joined which have been great for me, as we’re now much more aligned with where I'd want the company to be going. It’s interesting to be on the inside and see how the company is going to navigate that.
Whilst she acknowledges there is no one solution as to how we are going to get to net-zero, bp’s size and expertise means it has a major part to play in moving the transition forward.
Ultimately, it’s this opportunity to play a part in the transition that she really relishes: “There's so much going on at bp at the moment and there's going to be a lot of opportunity – plus, I think you can effect a lot of change from the inside. I think it's going to continue to be a really great company to work for.”