Ian Harvey was CEO of BTG plc from 1985 until his retirement in late 2004. During that time he oversaw the privatisation of BTG in 1992, its public flotation in 1995, a demerger of part of its business and three Rights Issues totalling £250 million to raise business expansion capital. BTG was the world-leading technology commercialisation company which had been patenting and licensing globally since the early 1950’s. He is currently: Chairman, IP Center Advisory Board, Tsinghua University, Beijing; and, Adjunct Professor, Imperial College Business School, London.
Following a degree in Mechanical Sciences from Cambridge University, his early career was as an engineer with Vickers and Laporte Industries in the civil, aerospace and chemical industries. After an MBA from Harvard Business School, he was with the World Bank in a variety of roles in South Asia and French-speaking West Africa. He was Chairman of the Intellectual Property Institute from 1999-2011.
He has been a student for many years of the history and trends of global invention and technology development and the related role of IP. He has written many articles and book chapters and lectures widely on global intellectual property and technology issues, particularly as they relate to business. He is currently involved with the development of intellectual property in China and pressing for the teaching of intellectual property as part of strategy in business school programmes worldwide.
