James George Oag is a Scottish business entrepreneur.

Education

Oag was born in

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

in March 1966. He attended Armadale Academy then served an apprenticeship as a mechanic before attending Inverness College to study mechanical engineering. Further qualifications were achieved at the

Robert Gordon University Robert Gordon University, commonly called RGU (), is a public university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It became a university in 1992, and originated from an educational institution founded in the 18th century by Robert Gordon (philanthrop ...

in Aberdeen and he gained a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in Instrument Analytical Science from the School of Applied Sciences in 1992.

Career

After completing his education, Oag spent seven years working as a Field Engineer with

Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's second-largest oil service company which is responsible for most of the world's fracking operations. It employs approximately 55,000 people through its hundreds of su ...

, leaving the firm to found his own company, Optima Solutions in 1999. By February 2008 Optima had a staff of more than fifty employees and a 55 per cent share of the company was sold to Northern Industries for an eight figure sum. Later that year Oag took delivery of a

Bugatti Veyron The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti, and manufactured in Molsheim, France by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver Pi ...

. The £810,000 vehicle was purchased as an investment but sold a few years later as Oag said "it wasn't helpful when meeting clients." Oag has gained several industry awards and Optima Solutions was awarded the

Queen's Awards for Enterprise The King's Awards for Enterprise, previously known as The Queen's Award for Enterprise, is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting oppor ...

in 2009 in the category for International Trade. In mid 2010, Oag purchased a £1 million share of SPEX, another Aberdeen company, which had been founded in 2009. Oag retained a shareholding in SPEX and assumed the role of Chief Executive of the company in January 2014. Optima was purchased by the American company Tetra Technologies in March 2012 for over £40 million. At that time Oag had a 42.3 per cent stake in the company. Re-development of ideas gleaned from out of date

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s has served Oag as an inspiration for innovative designs such as remote controls for domestic fire alarms.

Personal life

Dunecht House Dunecht House is a stately home on the Dunecht estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The house is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national ...

, a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, was purchased from Charles Anthony Pearson at the end of 2012 for £1.2 million. Oag married Yulia Sarycheva, a Russian business student, in a ceremony at the mansion's chapel during November 2012.

References

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oag, Jamie 1966 births Living people People from West Lothian People educated at Armadale Academy Alumni of Robert Gordon University Scottish company founders 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 21st-century Scottish businesspeople