Olympus Names Julien Sauvagnargues CEO of the Americas

Olympus has appointed Julien Sauvagnargues president and CEO of the Olympus Corporation of the Americas (OCA). He takes over for Nacho Abia, and reports to Olympus Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Gabriela Kaynor, effective April 1, 2024. 
 
Sauvagnargues joined Olympus in 2006. This appointment builds on his tenure as OCA president since 2020. As president and CEO of OCA, Sauvagnargues will oversee Olympus’ activities within North and South America. He will join the board of directors for AdvaMed, a medtech trade association. He will continue to serve on the board of directors for the Lehigh Valley Partnership.
 
President of the Medical Systems Group, Richard Reynolds will join the OCA board of directors. Additionally, David Gomez will assume the role of Corporate General Counsel for OCA, which was previously held by Thomas Glavin, who will retire later this year after nearly eight years at Olympus.
 
Glavin joined Olympus in 2016 as a consultant and became the OCA Chief Compliance Officer in the same year. In February 2021, he became OCA General Counsel to oversee that region’s legal function.
 
“Julien, Richard and I have worked closely as leaders to help make the North American Olympus business what it is today, the largest contributing region to our global revenue,” said Abia. “Although I’m excited for my next journey, I’m looking forward to watching their success as they take OCA to inspiring new places.”
 
Abia leaves Olympus on March 31 to serve as CEO of Grifols, a pharmaceutical company in Spain. 
 
Abia was the first employee of Olympus Spain, now known as Olympus Iberia. In 2011, he moved to Center Valley, Pennsylvania to join OCA and assumed the responsibility of President for its Consumer Imaging Business Division. In 2020, he was promoted to President of the OCA region. He was also a member of OCA’s Board of Directors and of the Global Executive Committee of Olympus in Tokyo.
 
“We cannot be grateful enough for Nacho’s 23-year tenure with this company,” said Stefan Kaufmann, CEO, of Olympus Corporation. “We will miss him greatly, but also we’re delighted that Julien will take the reins for the many exciting initiatives to come.”