A theoretical physicist by university training, Roland spent the first 11 years of his career with AT&T in the Netherlands and in Italy, holding different business management positions. His last assignment there was as Regional Managing Director for Northern Europe.
After AT&T, Roland spent a sabbatical year looking at new developments in understanding the dynamics of organizations, as well as publishing and lecturing on the topic of complex systems.
Then in 1999 he joined Royal Dutch Shell in various senior management functions, including Vice President for Sustainable Development and Vice President Global LNG for Shell Gas & Power. He was closely involved with strategy and scenario planning, both for Shell's own Long Term Energy scenarios, as well as in projects with other partners such as IUCN. He has been a regular public speaker and panel member at a broad range of conferences and forums.
Roland is a Dutch national; his travels have made him fluent in five languages.