OGILVIE THOMPSON, Julian 1934-2023
Richard R
He was s of Newton OGILVIE THOMPSON 1904-92 sometime Chief Justice of South Africa, and (Anne Agnes) Eve WIENER 1905-2000. He m 1956 Hon Tessa Mary BRAND 1934-2020 d of 4th Viscount HAMPDEN 1900-65 and scion of the DACRE barons, and Leila Emily 1900-96 d of Lt-Col Frank Evelyn SEELY 1864-1928 (s of Sir Charles SEELY 1st Bt 1833-1915) and Leila Eliza RUSSELL 1876-1903 (gt gd of 6th Duke of BEDFORD 1766-1839 and gd of 8th Baron MIDDLETON 1817-77 etc etc.), and had 2 sons and 2 daus as above.
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Julian Ogilvie Thompson, mining executive who steered Anglo American through the post-apartheid years – obituary
He presided with aplomb and political sensitivity over an empire that touched every part of South Africa’s economic life
Julian Ogilvie Thompson, who has died aged 89, was a pillar of South African business as chairman of the mining giant Anglo American – and a pioneer of post-apartheid change as a trustee of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.
Anglo American was launched as a gold mining venture in Johannesburg in 1917 by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, with backing from the US bank JP Morgan & Co. In 1926 it became a major shareholder in the De Beers diamond company founded by Cecil Rhodes, and in later years it expanded into South African consumer businesses and as an international producer of platinum, copper and coal.
Ogilvie Thompson joined the company in 1956. He became the personal assistant and protégé of the then chairman Harry Oppenheimer, Sir Ernest’s son, and rose through the finance side to join the board in 1970 and serve as chairman from 1990 to 2002….
After retiring from Anglo, Ogilvie Thompson was a founder trustee from 2003 to 2020 of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation – an initiative based on an agreement between Nelson Mandela himself and the Rhodes Trust to provide postgraduate scholarships (more than 600 to date) and leadership development programmes for young South Africans….
Julian Ogilvie Thompson was born on January 27 1934 in Cape Town to Newton Ogilvie Thompson – an advocate born in the Cape Colony who served as chief justice of South Africa from 1971 to 1974 – and his wife Eve, née Wiener…..
Julian Ogilvie Thompson married, in 1956, Tessa Brand, daughter of the 4th Viscount Hampden – whose great-grandfather, the 1st Viscount and 23rd Lord Dacre, was Speaker of the House of Commons. Tessa’s elder sister Rachel, widow of the author William Douglas Home, was the 27th Baroness Dacre. Tessa died in 2020 and Julian is survived by their two daughters and two sons.
Julian Ogilvie Thompson, born January 27 1934, died August 11 2023