Conclusion
I found this research fascinating and it revealed to me how great Olivetti had been, obviously working there we all took it for granted. I think Olivetti tradition can be summed up in a few words. Empathy with style and entrepreneurship with culture. It was interesting to note that several of the designers who worked for Olivetti were British born and trained. Some designers demonstrated their versatility by working on a variety of assignments from product design to posters and layout of publication.
With a few exceptions, other than Directors, I have omitted mentioning names, there were far too many influential people to mention, you know who you are and we know who you were!
I would like however to dedicate my potted incomplete history of Olivetti in the UK to Lance English who retired in 1988 and died in 1997. Lance was my friend and mentor and was revered as the elder statesman of Marketing. The expression “done that, been there, got the T shirt” applied to Lance. His first mention in the newsletters refers to an early visit to Italy and a brush with the law for his parking. His name regularly appeared in the newsletters up to his retirement. Lance was in the nicest sense your instant expert to be wheeled in front of a client to explain something new. He had the unique ability to study a new product or technology for a very short while and then be able to present the information in his own style and respond to the most difficult of questions.
John H Hope
June 2003