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Olivier Andriès

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"Hydrogen is an attractive solution that we need to develop further; it will take time to arrive because the technologies must mature, but decarbonization cannot wait, so we must actively pursue other disruptive solutions."

— Olivier Andriès[2]

Overview

Olivier Andriès
Born (1962-04-17) 17 April 1962 (age 63)
Dunkerque, France
CitizenshipFrench
EducationÉcole Polytechnique; École des Mines de Paris
Alma materÉcole Polytechnique; École des Mines de Paris
Occupation(s)Business executive and engineer
EmployerSafran
Known forChief Executive Officer of Safran
TitleChief Executive Officer
Term1 January 2021–present
PredecessorPhilippe Petitcolin
Board member ofSafran; Veolia
Children1 daughter
AwardsChevalier de la Légion d'honneur; Officier de l'ordre national du Mérite
Websitehttps://www.safran-group.com/profile/andries-olivier

👔 Olivier Andriès (born 17 April 1962) is a French engineer and business executive who has served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Safran since 1 January 2021.[3][4] Trained at the École Polytechnique and the École des Mines de Paris, he began his career in the French civil service before moving into senior roles at Lagardère and Airbus.[5][6] Within Safran he successively headed its helicopter-engine and aircraft-engine subsidiaries before taking the group’s top job, where he has focused on scaling production of the LEAP jet engine, steering the company through the post-COVID-19 recovery and directing a large share of research and development spending towards aviation decarbonisation.[3][7][8] Beyond Safran, he sits on the board of Veolia and has been elected president of the French aerospace industry association GIFAS, combining corporate leadership with influence over sector-wide strategy.[6][9]

Early life and education

🧒 Early years and schooling. Born on 17 April 1962 in the port city of Dunkerque in northern France, Andriès grew up in an industrial environment far from the Parisian business elite.[4][5] Biographical profiles describe him as strongly attached to republican values and to France’s secular public-education system, and they note an early fascination with history and political leaders that would later inform his management style.[5] A high-achieving student, he entered École Polytechnique in 1981 and then École des Mines de Paris in 1984, acquiring the dual “X-Mines” pedigree that is characteristic of many senior figures in the French technocracy.[3][4]

Government service and move to private industry

🏛️ Civil service in industry and finance. After graduation Andriès joined the French state administration in 1990, working first at the Ministry of Industry and then at the Treasury Department, where he handled dossiers in the aeronautics and defence sectors.[3][4] In 1993 he became industrial adviser in the cabinet of the Minister of Economy and Finance, gaining early experience of how public policy, state shareholdings and large industrial groups intersect in France’s strategic industries.[4]

🤝 Lagardère and apprenticeship under Jean-Luc Lagardère. In 1995 Andriès left government to join the Lagardère group as deputy director of strategy, a move that marked his transition from policymaker to corporate strategist.[6][5] Within a few years he had become a close adviser to founder and CEO Jean-Luc Lagardère, working on acquisition and merger projects and learning how long-term strategic plans are translated into operational and financial decisions inside a diversified conglomerate.[5][4] This period as a “conseiller spécial” is often cited as an apprenticeship that strengthened his ability to combine high-level vision with attention to operational detail.

✈️ Airbus, the A350 programme and the EADS affair. In 2000 Andriès joined Airbus in Toulouse as director of product policy and later took charge of wide-body programmes; from 2005 he sat on the executive committee of EADS (now Airbus Group) as executive vice-president for strategy and cooperation.[3][4] At Airbus he was closely associated with reshaping the A350 programme into the A350 XWB after launch customers demanded a more ambitious design, illustrating his willingness to revisit core assumptions when major projects are at risk.[5] His time at EADS also brought a serious setback: in 2008 he was one of seventeen executives placed under formal investigation in a high-profile insider-trading case relating to delays in Airbus programmes and the timing of share sales by senior managers.[10][11] Investigations by the market regulator and the courts eventually cleared him of wrongdoing, with the judicial case closed in 2015, but the episode temporarily slowed his career progression and underlined the legal and reputational risks facing top executives in listed groups.[4][11]

Safran career

🛠️ Joining Safran and early responsibilities. Andriès entered Safran in March 2008 as executive vice-president for strategy and development, at a moment when the group was consolidating its aerospace and defence activities.[3][4] In September 2009 he was given responsibility for Safran’s Defence and Security branch and joined the group executive board, broadening his exposure to military programmes, electronics and security systems.[3] In 2011 he became chief executive of Safran Helicopter Engines and, in mid-2015, of Safran Aircraft Engines, the engine subsidiary that by 2019 generated roughly half of Safran’s revenue and about two-thirds of its operating profit.[3][5]

🚀 Managing the LEAP engine ramp-up. As head of Safran Aircraft Engines, Andriès oversaw the industrialisation of the LEAP jet engine, developed with GE through their CFM International joint venture to power the Airbus A320neo family, the Boeing 737 MAX and the COMAC C919.[7][3] The programme required an unprecedented production ramp-up: from a few dozen LEAP engines delivered in 2016 to a target of around 2,000 units per year by 2020, supported by a large order backlog for new-generation narrow-body aircraft.[7] To meet this demand, Safran and GE duplicated critical supply chains, expanded assembly capacity and managed the impact of the worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX in 2019, while still delivering more than 1,700 LEAP engines that year.[7][3] This industrial feat was widely viewed as a proving ground for Andriès’s operational credentials and strengthened his position as a likely successor to Safran’s group CEO.[12]

CEO of Safran

🌍 Appointment amid the aviation crisis. In October 2019 Safran’s board selected Andriès to succeed Philippe Petitcolin as group chief executive, culminating a long internal succession process during which he had already emerged as the leading candidate.[4][12] After a transition as adviser to the CEO in 2020, he formally took office as Chief Executive Officer and director on 1 January 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 shock to global civil aviation.[3][13] The abrupt collapse of air traffic had depressed demand for engines and aircraft equipment, forcing Safran to cut output and adapt to a drastically changed market.

♻️ Resilience and decarbonisation strategy. As CEO, Andriès sought to balance short-term crisis management with long-term technological investment. Safran implemented cost-saving measures, reduced capacity and used furlough schemes where necessary, but he insisted that research into cleaner propulsion should not be sacrificed to immediate pressures.[3][14] He announced that roughly three-quarters of Safran’s research and technology budget for 2021–2025 would be devoted to decarbonisation projects, including more efficient engines, open-rotor concepts, hybrid-electric architectures and compatibility with sustainable aviation fuels.[8][14] In interviews and public speeches he has repeatedly described decarbonisation as a “priority issue” for the sector and has encouraged young engineers to see aerospace as a field where they can make a meaningful contribution to climate objectives.[8][15]

📈 Recovery, growth and market valuation. Under Andriès’s leadership Safran recovered from its pandemic-era slump and, by the mid-2020s, ranked among the world’s most valuable aerospace companies. According to market-capitalisation data, the group’s value rose from about €46 billion at the end of 2021 to more than €120 billion by late 2025, a gain that significantly outpaced the broader CAC 40 index.[16] The rebound reflected the return of commercial air traffic, higher LEAP engine deliveries and aftermarket activity, and internal efficiency measures that improved margins and cash generation.[3][14] Financial-press commentary has tended to characterise his approach as cautious but ambitious, combining long-term industrial investment with tight cost control rather than high-profile restructuring or deal-making.[12][17]

🧭 Portfolio moves and acquisitions. In parallel with organic growth, Andriès has pursued targeted acquisitions to reinforce Safran’s positions in electronics and flight-control systems. In 2024 Safran moved to acquire Preligens, a French artificial-intelligence specialist whose surveillance and image-analysis tools are being integrated into Safran Electronics & Defense, while in 2025 it completed the purchase of Collins Aerospace’s flight-control and actuation activities, significantly expanding its role in mission-critical aircraft systems.[18][19] Analysts see these moves as consistent with his strategy of complementing Safran’s engine leadership with a broader portfolio in high-technology systems for civil and defence aviation, even as antitrust authorities in Europe and the United Kingdom scrutinised and ultimately cleared the Collins transaction.[20][21]

Other mandates and positions

🌐 Board roles at Veolia and Mines Paris. Alongside his responsibilities at Safran, Andriès holds several external mandates. Since April 2023 he has served as an independent director of Veolia Environnement, where he chairs the compensation committee and is a member of the accounts and audit and purpose committees, bringing aerospace-industry experience to a large utilities group.[6][22] In September 2024 he became chairman of the board of the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, reconnecting with his alma mater and taking on a formal role in steering one of France’s leading engineering schools.[4]

🎓 Sector representation and GIFAS presidency. At industry level, Andriès represents the French aerospace sector as president of the Groupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales (GIFAS), to which he was elected in July 2025.[9][23] In this role he has highlighted the challenges of increasing production in both civil and defence markets, maintaining competitiveness and attracting young talent, while also stressing the industry’s efforts to reduce its environmental footprint and its importance for national and European sovereignty.[23]

Compensation and shareholdings

💶 Executive compensation. As the head of a major CAC 40 company, Andriès receives remuneration that is substantial but comparatively moderate within the universe of French blue-chip CEOs. According to reports by France’s Agence des participations de l’État, his total compensation for 2022 and 2023 was on the order of €2.7–2.9 million per year, combining a fixed salary of around €0.8–0.84 million with short-term variable pay of roughly €1 million and long-term incentive shares of a similar magnitude.[24][25] These levels placed him in the lower half of CAC 40 chief executives in 2021–2023, consistent with Safran’s cautious approach to executive pay following the pandemic downturn.[24][25]

📊 Equity holdings and wealth. In addition to his salary and bonuses, Andriès holds personal shares in Safran accumulated over the course of his career, though public documents indicate that his stake represents only a small fraction of the company’s capital.[3][26] Based on Safran’s market valuation in the mid-2020s, that holding is worth several million euros, but there are no widely cited estimates of his overall net worth, and commentators generally describe his lifestyle as comfortable yet discreet rather than ostentatious.[5][26]

Personal life and leadership style

🏡 Family and privacy. Profiles of Andriès consistently stress his reserved nature and reluctance to put his private life in the spotlight. He is married and has one daughter, but rarely speaks about his family in public and rarely gives interviews that stray beyond corporate matters, preferring to let Safran’s performance and projects speak on his behalf.[5][12] Colleagues describe him as courteous and measured, with the understated demeanour often associated with France’s engineer-managers rather than the more flamboyant style of some earlier aerospace leaders.[5][27]

📚 Interest in history and management philosophy. A keen reader of history, Andriès has said he draws lessons from past crises and political leaders, and on his LinkedIn profile he highlights Winston Churchill’s maxim that looking far back helps one see farther forward.[5] This interest in historical perspective feeds into what insiders describe as a methodical, preparation-heavy approach to decision-making: he is known to arrive at meetings with detailed briefing notes, to ask precise questions and to use historical analogies when framing long-term industrial choices.[12][27]

🤫 Low-key public profile. In the run-up to his promotion as CEO, some business-press articles portrayed Andriès as “peu visible” (“hardly seen”) and questioned whether a discreet executive would be able to embody Safran’s leadership externally.[27] Even after taking the helm he has tended to keep a relatively low public profile compared with some peers, with much of his communication focused on technical subjects such as engine durability, supply-chain bottlenecks and energy-price pressures rather than broad corporate storytelling.[3][28] Supporters within the company argue that this style is coherent with his engineering background and emphasis on operational execution.[27]

👩‍🔬 Commitment to education and talent pipelines. Through his roles at Mines Paris and GIFAS, Andriès has been vocal about the need to attract young people—including women—to careers in aerospace and defence, arguing that the sector offers meaningful and innovative work on issues such as climate, sovereignty and high technology.[9][23] He has supported initiatives to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and to highlight aerospace’s contribution to employment and exports, presenting this outreach as essential to sustaining France’s industrial base and the social legitimacy of its aerospace industry.[9][23]

Controversies and criticism

⚖️ EADS insider-trading investigation. The most serious controversy in Andriès’s career stems from his time at EADS. In 2008 he was placed under formal investigation, along with sixteen other executives, over allegations of insider trading linked to delays in Airbus programmes and the timing of share sales by senior managers.[10][11] The case attracted significant media attention and hung over the executives for several years; however, the French market regulator did not sanction him, and in 2015 the judicial investigation was closed without conviction, effectively clearing him of wrongdoing.[4][11] By that time he had already re-established his reputation within Safran, but the episode is often cited as a reminder of the legal and reputational risks associated with information-sensitive decisions at large listed companies.

🌱 Rennes factory dispute and comments on Green-run cities. In 2025 Andriès became embroiled in a political controversy surrounding a proposed Safran foundry project in Rennes. Frustrated by opposition from local officials belonging to Green-led municipal governments, he told a parliamentary commission that he had been “welcomed with tomatoes” and declared that he would no longer invest in cities governed by Green majorities, remarks widely reported as a threat to boycott such municipalities.[29][30] Environmental groups and some political figures criticised his statements as disproportionate and at odds with Safran’s public emphasis on decarbonisation. Andriès later nuanced his position, saying that Safran sought constructive dialogue with all local authorities but expected its industrial projects to be assessed without what he viewed as ideological hostility.[30]

📰 Reception of his leadership. Within Safran, explicit criticism of Andriès has been limited, partly because the company’s operating performance and share price have been strong during his tenure.[16][17] Some commentators nonetheless question whether his reserved style is an asset or a handicap in an era when CEOs are expected to act as prominent public communicators on environmental and social issues as well as financial ones.[27][12] Supporters counter that his emphasis on long-term industrial programmes, steady execution and measured communication has provided stability in a volatile aerospace environment, notably during the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent supply-chain disruptions.[12][14]

Honours

  • Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (2018).[4]
  • Officier de l'ordre national du Mérite (2025).[4]

Related content & more

YouTube videos

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Keynote by Safran CEO Olivier Andriès at Paris Air Lab during the 2023 Paris Air Show
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Safran CEO Olivier Andriès on aircraft demand and jet engine durability in a Bloomberg Television interview

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References

  1. ↑ "Safran CEO to head Gifas". JEC Composites.
  2. ↑ "Paris Air Forum 2021: decarbonization and innovation". Safran.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 "Olivier Andriès". Safran. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 "Olivier Andriès". Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 "Olivier Andriès". Dirigeants & Entreprise. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "The Board of Directors". Veolia Environnement. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "CFM International LEAP". Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Safran waiting for airframers before any new engine launch, says chief Andriès". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Olivier Andriès élu Président du GIFAS". GIFAS. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Airbus/EADS : Andriès mis en examen". Le Figaro. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "EADS : retour sur une affaire majeure de délit d'initié". 20 Minutes. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 "Pourquoi Olivier Andriès a été choisi pour piloter Safran". Challenges. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  13. ↑ "Safran names Olivier Andriès EVP before succeeding CEO". Runway Girl Network. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Safran, a world leader in aerospace" (PDF). Safran. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  15. ↑ "Safran CEO Olivier Andriès on jet engines, decarbonization and advice for young people". Medium. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Safran (SAF.PA) – Capitalisation boursière". CompaniesMarketCap.com. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "France's Safran raises 2025 outlook after higher mid-year profit". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  18. ↑ "AI leader Preligens joins Safran". Safran. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  19. ↑ "Safran announces the acquisition of flight control and actuation activities from Collins Aerospace". Safran. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  20. ↑ "Safran wins EU antitrust approval for $1.8 billion Collins deal". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  21. ↑ "UK antitrust regulator says Safran's remedies may resolve concerns on Collins deal". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  22. ↑ "Combined Shareholders' General Meeting, April 24, 2025". Veolia Environnement. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 "Le directeur général de Safran prend la tête du Gifas". JEC Composites. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Rémunérations 2022 des dirigeants des entreprises cotées" (PDF). Agence des participations de l'État. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Rémunérations 2023 des dirigeants des entreprises cotées" (PDF). Agence des participations de l'État. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Safran SA – Management". Simply Wall St. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 "Safran : Olivier Andriès peine à s'imposer en dauphin". La Lettre A. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  28. ↑ "Safran concerned about major increase in energy prices". Aviation Week. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  29. ↑ "Projet de fonderie Safran à Rennes : « Le patron du motoriste s'est emporté contre les élus écologistes, il n'a pas apprécié les critiques »". Le Monde. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "Boycott des mairies écologistes par Safran : aux origines de l'affrontement". L'Express. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
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