Oliver Grabes

Director Braun Design & P&G Grooming ID, Chairman of the BraunPrize Growing up in Germany surrounded by iconic Braun products, Oliver’s view on design has been biased from the beginning: Make products meaningful, functional, beautiful, easy to use and with quality.

Intrigued by the opportunity of reconnecting the brand with its world famous design heritage, Oliver joined P&G in 2009 to become the Head of Braun Design. Under his leadership the design team established the design strategy of “Past Forward” with contemporary and innovative products that put Braun´s core values of simplicity, quality and good design back into the center of the user experience. Since then a wide range of products following this philosophy create strong global business success and have been awarded with a record number of international design awards, reestablishing Braun´s unique brand equity.

Upon completion of a Master’s Degree in Industrial Design from the Offenbach Academy of Arts and Design, Oliver has lived in Germany, the Netherlands, England and the US working for several leading design agencies. Many of his products have enjoyed huge success and are the result of over 26 years of international work experience. His work spans from small start-ups to large companies such as Sony, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Panasonic, Intel, AT&T, General Dynamics, Bosch, Deutsche Telekom, General Electric, Boeing, Merck, Dräger, Johnson&Johnson, PrecorUSA, Reebok and Nike.

Holding numerous patents for design innovations, his products and design concepts have been recognized    with over 80 international design prizes. He is teaching as a visiting Professor for Design at the University of Wuppertal, bringing his international experience to one of Germany´s leading Design & Innovation programs while exposing himself to explorative learning in various fields of design and technology, smart devices and interaction design.

Oliver’s focus is on joyfully simplifying the way people interact with products and systems in today’s increasingly complex world. His passion is in building best-in class emotional product and brand experiences that leverage the power of “Good Design“.