René Olivieri has been Chair of the National Trust since 2022.  Previously, he has been Chair of the RSPCA, The Wildlife Trusts, Tubney Charitable Trust, and the Belgrade Theatre.  He was the interim Chair of the National Lottery Heritage Fund at the time of the covid crisis, during which he served on the board of the government’s Culture Recovery Fund.  Since its inception he has been a member of DCMS’ Culture and Heritage Capital Advisory Board.

René had a long career in scientific and scholarly publishing, much of it as CEO of Blackwell Publishing.   He was born in the United States and raised on a farm in the state of Oregon, moving to the UK permanently in 1980.   He has a BA in political science from the University of Oregon and an MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins University.  He lives in rural Worcestershire, where he and his wife open their gardens for charity.   He was awarded a CBE in 2024.