Chris Townsend

Experienced leadership speaker Chris Townsend is best known as one of the key faces behind the successful London 2012 Olympic Bid. Townsend became the Commercial Director for the London Organisational Committee for the Olympic Games and has since gone on to become Commercial Director of a proposed £2 billion theme park in Southern England.

Straight out of university, Townsend began working for some of the most impressive businesses in the UK and globally after graduating with a Master’s in Marketing Management from Nottingham Trent University. Going on to work for EMI, BSkyB, Telewest and DMB&B – one of the top five advertising firms in the world. In 2003, Townsend was appointed as Group Marketing Director for Transport for London. Heavily involved in the campaign branding London and the implementation of the familiar Oyster Card system, Townsend acquired great success for the company. He was responsible for securing the various advertising and sponsorship contracts for the London Underground, including an £800 million contract with Viacom which ran for eight years.

In 2006, Townsend was appointed by the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic Games as Commercial Director. With many responsibilities such as managing domestic sponsorship, merchandising and the negotiation of worldwide broadcast rights, Townsend was accountable for yielding £2.4 billion to prepare for and stage the 2012 Olympics. He was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery as one of the stars that helped organise the Olympic Games and was listed as one of The London 100 Secret Power Brokers after signing 44 domestic partners, making the London 2012 Games possible.  In 2013, Chris Townsend was awarded an OBE for his services to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Game.

Townsend’s commercial expertise has been displayed throughout his career, including positions as Commercial Director of Chelsea F.C and CEO of the Government’s Shielding Programme – where he was responsible for implementing and the daily management of the local and national Shielding Programme. He was awarded a CBE in 2021 for his services to the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable. Currently a KPMG Senior Partner and Head of KPMG’s Government, Infrastructure, Defence and Healthcare practice, Townsend has served a successful career.

Chris Townsend OBE is an impressive leadership speaker, his success and experience are self-evident. With thanks to Townsend, Transport for London and the London 2012 Olympics were able to gather significant income and sponsorship, all of which have gone on to further fund much-needed public transport systems and youth sporting clubs and events. Townsend is proud of his contribution to the 2012 Games and speaks openly and frankly about the experience when he gives speeches as an after dinner speaker.