Our People
Meet Joe Olivarez
Houston, Texas, U.S.
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With over 25 years of international security and HSE experience, Joe Olivarez joined Jacobs in 2013 as the first global Security Leader in the company’s history.
From here, he built an integrated global security strategy to protect our personnel and the interests of the organization.
He has been instrumental in maturing the company’s business resilience capability (across emergency management, crisis management and business continuity), a collective effort that has helped Jacobs navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2018, Joe has also led Global Quality at Jacobs, working in collaboration with our lines of business to develop our BeyondExcellence Strategy. In 2020, Jacobs was recognized by the Chartered Quality Institute as Quality Organization of the Year (Large Company Category).
Joe also now leads the Operational Centers of Excellence, which embody Jacobs’ commitment to excellence and provide the thought leadership, direction and leading-edge practices to accelerate our journey toward being a company like no other and delivering on our core values – doing things right, challenging the accepted, aiming higher and living inclusion.
“BeyondExcellence represents our shared drive to dream big while keeping our feet planted firmly on the ground. We are a company in constant pursuit of excellence maximizing performance through innovative processes and technology.”
Joe M. Olivarez Jr.
A global, cross functional team with diverse knowledge and expertise across sustainability, environment, health and safety, security, resilience, quality, technology and innovation, the OpCOE is the steward of three Jacobs’ “hero brands”: PlanBeyond; BeyondZero; and BeyondExcellence.
Previous roles included Vice President (Western Hemisphere), Security & Crisis Management at Baker Hughes Incorporated and VP of an international investigative and security management consulting company serving a variety of corporations in the oil & gas, technology, entertainment, transportation, real estate and financial management businesses. Joe also spent 10 years in the government and government defense security business with General Dynamics as a Security Analyst and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a Special Agent.
Joe holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Legal Research from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston Executive Management Program. He has successfully completed leadership programs at the Thunderbird School of Global Management and Yale Executive School of Management and is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Domestic Security Executive Academy. He is a member of ASIS International (International Board Member), ASIS Chief Security Officer Center (Past Chair), International Security Management Association, U.S. State Department Overseas Security Advisory Council (Council Member) and, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Domestic Security Alliance Council.
Awards & recognition
- IFSEC 2020
- Security Magazine
- ISOS International Ambassador Duty of Care Award Winner
- Most Influential Global Security Executives