Laing O’Rourke has appointed Andrew Wolstenholme, former chief executive of Crossrail and director of BAA’s capital projects, as its new group technical director.
Wolstenholme will focus on enhancing the contractor’s digital capability, the “delivery of technical excellence” for clients, and be responsible for its health and safety in his new role.
He takes up his post on 4 May, reporting to CEO Ray O’Rourke. He will also be appointed to the company’s group executive committee (GEC). He replaces outgoing group digital and technical director, Dr Damien Buie.
Wolstenholme has been working with Laing O’Rourke for some time in an advisory capacity, assisting with the technical complexities of major projects.
During his career, he served as construction director for the Heathrow Express Rail Link and programme director on Terminal 5, then as BAA’s director of capital projects running a £10bn development programme across 10 airports. He was CEO of Crossrail from 2011 to 2018 and has also served as a non-executive director at HS2.
He is also a former chair of the Construction Leadership Council and was vice president at the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Ray O’Rourke said: “I’m delighted Andrew has agreed to join us. He has known our business as a customer and an advisor. His knowledge of our sector will ensure our engineering and innovation are seamlessly integrated with operational discipline and client connectivity.
“He understands the power of our experience in technical excellence and disruptive thinking, and he believes in our ambitious plans to enable sustainable high performance across our directly employed workforce and to deliver certainty for clients.”
