Sir Ian Wood, Founder and President
“I believe we all have an underlying responsibility in this world for each other. Philanthropy is more important than ever, and although we will never be able to sort out all of the world’s problems, we can try, and the impact of trying can be incredible.”
Born and educated in Aberdeen, Sir Ian Wood KT GBE is a well-respected and influential global businessman. His career began in the North-east fishing industry but he is best known for his work in the North Sea and international oil industry with Wood Group, serving as Chief Executive from 1967 to 2006 and as Chairman until 2012. He is the author of the Maximising Recovery UK Report, 2014, and based on funds secured from the City Region Deal and the work of Opportunity North East (ONE), led the start-up of the Oil & Gas Technology Centre (now Net Zero Technology Centre NZTC) which was set up to help transition Aberdeen from an oil and gas operations centre to a global hub for energy related technology innovation and development.
Sir Ian remains Chairman of JW Holdings Limited, and is Chairman of Opportunity North East (ONE), established by the private sector to broaden and boost the economy of the North-east of Scotland, founding Chairman of OGTC (now NZTC) and Chair of Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) Ltd. He also chaired the 2014 Commission on Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce.
Committed to the importance of philanthropy, Sir Ian Wood and his family established The Wood Foundation in 2007, where he was the Chairman
of the board of Trustees until January 2025 when he passed the baton to his son Garreth Wood. Sir Ian remains closely connected to the organisation in his new role as Founder and President of The Wood Foundation. Applying venture philanthropy principles, there are three main investment streams where proactive, intelligent funding is directed – Developing Young People in Scotland, Venture Philanthropy Transforming Livelihoods in East Africa, and Facilitating Economic and Education Development in Scotland. Sir Ian is passionate about philanthropy and continues to encourage other people to realise the impact they can have through effective giving – it doesn’t need to be money; time and/or knowledge can be just as powerful.
Recognising Sir Ian’s contributions, he was awarded the CBE in the 1982 New Year’s Honours List, a Knighthood in the 1994 New Year’s Honours List and a GBE (Knight Grand Cross) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2016. In 2018, he was formally installed as a Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle by Her Majesty the Queen. He was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2019.
