Vice President and General Manager
Merchant Gases, Latin America
Michael A. Olivares was appointed vice president and general manager, Merchant Gases, Latin America, in August 2012. Based in Santiago, Chile, he is responsible for the continued growth and profitability of Air Products’ activities throughout Latin America, as well as the company’s joint venture in South Africa.
Mr. Olivares joined Air Products in 1978 as a participant in the company’s Career Development Program with initial assignments in engineering and operations. He subsequently became a sales engineer in the Process Equipment Division, and in 1983 he was appointed general manager of Air Products Puerto Rico. Mr. Olivares returned to corporate headquarters in Allentown in 1987 and was named business manager, On-site Supply, for Canada and Latin America. He became a focused account manager for Chemical and Process Industries in 1993 and relocated to Thailand in 1996 as general manager for Bangkok Industrial Gas Ltd., an Air Products joint venture. In 1999 Mr. Olivares returned to the U.S. where he was appointed general manager, Latin America, for the Gases and Equipment Group. He was named vice president of Latin America in 2003, and in 2006 his role was expanded to include responsibility for the company’s activities in South Africa. Mr. Olivares was appointed vice president, International, in 2009 with the added responsibility for all of the company’s major joint ventures in Mexico, Italy, Taiwan, South Africa, India and Thailand.
Mr. Olivares was born in 1955 in Havana, Cuba. He received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University in 1978 and an M.B.A. from Temple University in 1991.
Mr. Olivares serves as a director for the Grupo Infra Companies located in Mexico. He also serves as a director representing Air Products’ interests in the Air Products South Africa and Bangkok Industrial Gas (Thailand) joint ventures. In his local community, Mr. Olivares is a trustee of The Hillside School.
3/2013
Back to Leadership