Born in Newcastle, Olivia Grant started as a youth employment officer.

She went on to establish Tyneside Training and Enterprise Council, and following the closure of the shipyards, went to the United States to convince the chief executive of Wellstream that Newcastle was open for business.

It now employs more than 580 people in Newcastle and another 207 in the region.

Today Olivia is Chair of Your Homes Newcastle, Newcastle Futures, Honorary Vice President of Newcastle CVS, and is formerly Chair of Newcastle University and Vice Chair of Newcastle Building Society.

Olivia helps to lead the PPIE workstream within the project, using her years of experience and expertise to engage patients and the public.