The international tunnelling industry has been paying tribute to Olivier Vion, a former executive director of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES) of many years standing, and a BTS member, after he died in July.
ITA president Arnold Dix said Olivier’s dedication to the promotion and development of underground space had left an indelible mark on the community and beyond.
“Olivier’s leadership and tireless efforts significantly advanced our mission, inspiring many around the world to embrace the underground,” said Dix. “His contributions were most recently evident during the WTC 2024 50th celebrations in Shenzhen, China, where his hard work played a crucial role in the success of this landmark, and largest ever ITA event. Olivier’s legacy will live on through the numerous projects and initiatives he championed.”
The BTS expressed its condolences: “Olivier’s impact on the international tunnelling community is indelible. Through many decades in service of the ITA, Olivier enabled this important NGO to achieve great things.
“We give thanks for Olivier Vion and his legacy and fondly remember an energetic and passionate person who will be sorely missed from our global family.”
The ITA noted, in its Memoriam, that Olivier was an experienced administrator and skilled diplomat, qualities that he called upon heavily in his more than 14 years as ITA executive director, in: managing the Secretariat; guiding the Executive Council; orchestrating the activities of a community of 80 member nations, working groups, several committees; supporting the national bodies in their turns as hosts to WTC and ITA General Assemblies, and also ITA Tunnelling Awards since their inception in 2015.
To work with so many engineers in a vast community, Olivier drew upon an education founded upon interests both technical and in people.
Olivier was dedicated in the most part to public service and civic duty. As well as his long association with and leadership of the ITA, he held administrative positions with several societies and local and national government and non-governmental organisations. As testament to his energy, Olivier held these positions while involved with the ITA.
Prior to the ITA, he worked independently and with major companies in France, promoting civil engineering and tunnelling. He was managing director of marketing company Acrotere and editor of its European Newsletter of Underground Works; commercial deputy director of DTP Terrassement in charge of bidding for large projects in earthmoving works; and, development engineer of Lafarge Aluminates, developing special cementitious products for underground infrastructure.
Initially communications manager for ITA, and as part of the ITA family from the early 1990s as editor of the ITA Tribune magazine, Olivier became widely known and respected as a guiding force of the Association and all its activities. In 2008, he was appointed executive director, one of the most influential and responsible positions in the association and across the international underground industry. As the righthand man to six ITA presidents, Olivier oversaw major growth of the association and its operations, with member nations rising from 54 in 2008 to 80 in 2024.
From 2023, Olivier pursued further public and civic ambitions in France but stayed on as a consultant to support ITA, helping with the association’s 50th Anniversary and its formal celebrations at the highly successful WTC 2024, in Shenzhen, China.
