Meet our new head of communication

From one Swedish icon to another – Olivia Ross-Wilson joins us as our new head of global communications fresh off a ten-year spell with IKEA. There she started as head of sustainability communication in 2011, before becoming head of communications for Ingka Group (the biggest of the twelve franchisees that operate IKEA stores) in 2016.

As the head of communications at Ingka Group, Olivia is a member of the leadership team and leads a team and matrix of over 300 people across 30 countries. Her responsibilities include the strategic long-term positioning of IKEA, as well as leading the communication across areas including key brand marketing activities, PR, internal communication, public affairs, in-house production and strategic business communication, to name a few.

“As a long-term fan and customer of Volvo, I am super excited to be joining the company,” Olivia said. “The world needs brands and companies like Volvo to thrive for the future, so I look forward to contributing however I can to the company’s inspiring journey and to the success of the electrification strategy.”

Before joining IKEA, Olivia worked in various PR and marketing roles in London between 1998 and 2009, including for the retailer Marks & Spencer and agency side for brands such as Starbucks, Delta Airlines and Carlsberg. During this time she also founded her own communication consulting company, advising clients such as Coca-Cola and Mulberry.

In 2009, she moved to New York and joined the Clinton Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies, organisations led by former US President Bill Clinton and Mike Bloomberg, as the global communications director for the Clinton Climate Initiative. In this role, Olivia was in charge of global strategic communication, including branding, PR, donor marketing, digital communication and events.

“We want to give our warmest welcome to Olivia,” said Hanna Fager, head of corporate functions. “She is a modern leader with a deep and wide-ranging understanding of strategic communication, bringing valuable experience as we move towards becoming a leading premium electric car company. To cap it all, she knows the ins and outs of working with a brand that, similarly to us, has a rich Swedish heritage and creates products that are part of people’s everyday life all over the globe.”

Olivia takes over the role after Nikki Rooke, who left the company during the summer having chosen to pursue new opportunities in the UK, after leading our global communications operations since 2019.

“We would like to thank Nikki for her contributions to our continued success and I wish her all the best in her future endeavours," said Hanna Fager.