Oliver is an international government and business leader with 20+ years' experience operating at the intersection of government, industry and geopolitics across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Oliver currently leads the UK’s critical minerals strategy internationally, working closely with the public and private sector investment communities, and international partners. He is a former diplomat, and has led market access negotiations, major infrastructure and investment programmes, and built strategic partnerships across governments and multinational organisations. He has broad experience in sectors including critical minerals, mining, infrastructure, clean energy, defence, higher education and advanced manufacturing.
The UK's approach to investing in critical minerals supply chains and strengthening international partnership
The UK Critical Minerals Strategy published in November 2025 set out ambitious plans to increase domestic production and recycling to 10% and 20% of industrial demand, and to reduce dependence on any single country to no more than 60% of imports. The UK is establishing a Magnets Hub, a Critical Minerals Accelerator and a Demand Aggregation Platform, investing through the National Wealth Fund iin mining and midstream opportunities, and focussing on regional clusters. Working with international partners is central to this approach enabling co-investment, sharing of expertise and streamlining trade in complex and opaque supply chains. This is taking place at a number of levels including EU-UK collaboration, and wider engagement within the G7 and beyond.
