Board of Directors
Chairman of the Board
Asthildur Otharsdottir
Asthildur Otharsdottir is an independent advisor and board director. She is the Chairman of the Board of Frumtak Ventures investment fund and a director of Promote Iceland. Otharsdottir is on the Board of Governors and Chairman of the audit committee of the University of Iceland, the board of the Nordic Arbitration Centre at the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce, and the board of Women Corporate Directors. She is a former director and chairman of the audit committee of Icelandair Group and several other organizations.
Otharsdottir served as the Global Director of Corporate Development at Össur hf., where she managed several international acquisitions, corporate funding, investor relations, and the dual listing of the company’s shares on Nasdaq Copenhagen. Prior to that, she served as a Senior Manager in Corporate Banking at Kaupthing Bank as well as a management consultant at Accenture in Copenhagen.
She has no interest links with the company’s main customers, competitors, or major shareholders.
EDUCATION MBA, Rotterdam School of Management, the Netherlands Cand. Oecon., University of Iceland
ELECTED 2013 Chairman of the Board 2012 Vice-Chairman 2011 Chairman of the Audit Committee 2010 Director
SUB-COMMITTEES Remuneration Committee (Chair) Nomination Committee
HOLDINGS IN MAREL 32,000 shares
Vice-Chairman of the Board
Arnar Thor Masson
Arnar Thor Masson is an independent advisor and board member, currently working with Summa Asset Management on infrastructure and renewable energy investments. Before that, Masson was Chief Human Resources and Strategy Officer at Isavia, a company that handles the operations and development of all airports in Iceland. Masson was an alternate director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, an investment and development bank that works primarily with private sector clients in developing economies.
Before joining EBRD, he was Director-General in the Prime Minister’s Office in Iceland, overseeing organizational changes and co-ordinating the implementation of cross departmental policies and strategic initiatives. Prior to that, he worked in the Ministry of Finance and was responsible for public sector reforms, performance management, and state-owned enterprise governance. From 2000 to 2008, Masson held an adjunct lecturer position at the Department of Political Science of the University of Iceland. Masson has experience in corporate strategy, human resources, corporate social responsibility, and finance and has worked with emerging markets. He has done executive courses for board directors both at Harvard Business School in the US and IMD in Switzerland.
He has no interest links with the company’s main customers, competitors, or major shareholders.
EDUCATION MSc, Comparative Politics, London School of Economics and Political Science BA, Political Science, University of Iceland
ELECTED 2013 Vice-Chairman 2001 Board Director
SUB-COMMITTEES Remuneration Committee Audit Committee (Chair) Nomination Committee (Chair)
HOLDINGS IN MAREL 0 shares
Board Director
Ann Elizabeth Savage
Ann Elizabeth Savage heads the Food Technical function at Gousto, a UK meal kit manufacturer and retailer. Savage previously served as Group Technical Director of Bakkavor. Her primary responsibilities have included food safety, health and safety management, manufacturing excellence, and corporate social responsibility management in the UK, US, and Asia. Savage has held a variety of roles in technical and research and development departments within the retail and food industry over her 40-year career. She worked for the Cooperative Wholesale Society (CWS), Northern Foods from 1990 until 1999, and at Geest/Bakkavor for over 19 years.
Savage’s responsibilities have included representing businesses with UK regulators such as the Food Standards Agency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and Health Protection England. She has chaired the Food Network for Ethical Trade (FNET), the IGD Technical Leadership Forum, and been a member of the advisory group for the Better Regulation Task Force and the British Retail Consortium Advisory Board. She has worked closely with UK retailers to deliver on their corporate social responsibility commitments and to develop reporting procedures.
Savage has experience in operational management, product development, and incident management. She has worked with Farm Africa in both Tanzania and Kenya to support African endeavors in tilapia fish farming and beekeeping. She is also a member of her parish council and a Governor of Boston College, one of the top five colleges in the UK.
She has no interest links with the company’s main customers, competitors, or major shareholders.
EDUCATION Mathematics, Technology and Systems Management, Open University Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies, Nottingham University
ELECTED 2013
SUB-COMMITTEES Audit Committee Remuneration Committee
HOLDINGS IN MAREL 0 shares
Board Director
Astvaldur Johannsson
Astvaldur Johannsson is Business Development Director at Controlant, a global real-time monitoring software solution (IoT) provider focusing on the pharmaceutical industry. His previous international business experience includes senior management positions within different markets at Össur hf., a global medical device manufacturer, and as an Executive Director leading the international division of Valitor hf., an eCommerce payment solutions and services provider. Previously, Johannsson also served as a member of the Executive Team of IT company Nyherji hf., as a Sales and Marketing Director at Penninn, and as a system analyst expert in the IT sector focusing on process design and development.
Johannsson is a proactive professional with extensive international experience of leadership within different marketplaces in the EU, US, and Asia, in a range of cross-functional environments, both on the executive level and board level. He has a comprehensive background and knowledge in formulating and implementing policy and strategy, and of leading and integrating new businesses and initiatives to improve business performance.
Johannsson has a solid background in managing business-to-business and business-to-consumer sales and marketing, business development, supply chain, outsourcing, negotiating, and product management along with operations knowledge and experience in various industries, working with progressive and successful organizations.
He has no interest links with the company’s main customers, competitors, or major shareholders.
EDUCATION MBA, University of Iceland BSc, Management Information Systems, Heriot-Watt University
ELECTED 2014
SUB-COMMITTEES Audit Committee
HOLDINGS IN MAREL 0 shares
Board Director
Lillie Li Valeur
Lillie Li Valeur is the CEO for Good Food Group in Denmark and a member of the Board of Directors, Remuneration Committee, and Science & Innovation Committee of Chr. Hansen Holding, listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen.
Valeur has extensive international experience in the food, ingredient, and pharmaceutical industries, with special focus on EMEA, Asia, commercial leadership, innovation, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnerships. Previously, for a period of 18 years, Valeur held several senior management roles at Arla Foods amba, both in Asia and globally, including VP Greater China, VP South East Asia, and VP Global Milk Based Beverages. Prior to that, she held various international business management positions at Lundbeck in Denmark, Novartis Consumer Health Co. in Shanghai, as well as a management consulting position at Bain & Company in Beijing.
From 2013 to 2020, Valeur was a member of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of AAK, listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, and a member of the Board of Directors of Meda in Sweden from 2015 to 2016.
She has no interest links with the company’s main customers, competitors, or major shareholders.
EDUCATION MBA, China European International Business School Degree in Medicine, Shanghai Medical University
ELECTED 2020
SUB-COMMITTEES None
HOLDINGS IN MAREL 0 shares
Board Director
Dr Olafur S. Gudmundsson
Dr. Olafur S. Gudmundsson is currently the Head of Discovery Pharmaceutics and Analytical Sciences at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), a global biopharmaceutical company. For more than two decades, Gudmundsson has held roles of increasing responsibility within research and development, covering multiple therapeutic areas and stages of drug discovery, both for Bristol-Myers Squibb and Genentech. During his tenure at BMS, Gudmundsson has helped bring multiple drug candidates to clinical trials, several of which have become marketed products.
In his time within the pharmaceutical industry, Gudmundsson’s responsibilities have included involvement with global portfolio strategy, evaluation of external acquisitions, strategic innovations, and integration of merged companies. Gudmundsson has participated in governance teams, providing input on global portfolio optimization and prioritization, led process optimization teams, and chaired integration teams.
Gudmundsson is also associated with the graduate program of the Pharmaceutical Chemistry department at Purdue University. Currently, Gudmundsson is a Board member of Eyrir Invest, Marel’s largest shareholder, and Noruz.
He has no interest links with the company’s main customers.
EDUCATION PhD, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Kansas Cand. Pharm., Pharmacy, University of Iceland
ELECTED 2014
SUB-COMMITTEES Remuneration Committee Nomination Committee
HOLDINGS IN MAREL 1,705,427 shares
Board Director
Ton Van Der Laan
Ton van der Laan currently serves as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Royal de Heus, a global feed company, and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rainforest Alliance in New York. He is a non-executive board member of Vion Foods and Dümmen Orange.
Van der Laan has extensive experience from several executive roles in the food, feed, and commodity industries. He is the former CEO of Nidera, a company globally active in financing and distribution of grains and oilseeds, EVP of Animal Proteins and Animal Nutrition at Cargill in the USA, and CEO of Provimi in the Netherlands, one of the global leaders in animal nutrition.
Previously, for over 22 years, van der Laan held several executive roles at Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer food company, where he was located in the Netherlands, UK, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. He has also served as the Managing Director of Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care. Van der Laan possesses extensive experience in multi-national businesses, strategic planning, portfolio management, acquisitions and company restructuring, large and small scale integrations, and top team development.
He has no interest links with the company’s main customers, competitors, or major shareholders.
EDUCATION MSc, Mechanical Engineering, Twente University New Board Program, Nyenrode Business University
ELECTED 2019
SUB-COMMITTEES Audit Committee
HOLDINGS IN MAREL 0 shares