Oliver is the founder and CEO of AVA Online Group, an e-commerce startup building the next generation of online brands for Asia and beyond.
Its first product is AVA.PH, a curated online boutique for premium brands and experiences. AVA helps creative enterprises reach an online savvy audience 24/7, without the traditional retail overhead. We celebrate Filipino creativity and hope to share the creative potential that the Philippines brings in design-driven markets. AVA is funded by Kickstart Ventures (the early stage venture fund of Globe Telecom), Hatchd Digital (the startup studio behind Rappler.com), and the Segovia Group.
Oliver also co-founded Metroheart Properties, a boutique real estate company that is currently developing a budget hotel in the Makati business district. He is also a board director at the Rotary Club of Makati and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Harvard Business School Club of the Philippines.
Oliver holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School where he was awarded the LeBarron-MacArthur-Ellis Fellowship. He co-authored “Passion & Purpose: Stories from the Best & Brightest Young Business Leaders“, becoming the first Filipino writer to be published by Harvard Business Review Press, and among the youngest authors in the publisher’s stable. The book was positively reviewed by the Financial Times and Washington Post, among others, and was selected to the 2012 JP Morgan Summer Reading List.
For four years, Oliver was based in Singapore where he worked with Procter & Gamble Asia. In a regional marketing strategy role, he spent possibly the most interesting year of his life: selling Whisper feminine care pads. No, he didn’t have to test the product. Oliver also previously worked at McKinsey & Company and Actis, a private equity firm.
Born and raised in the Philippines, Oliver graduated with honors from the Ateneo de Manila University, where he was an Asian debating champion and founding editor of the Ateneo Student Business Review. In 2005, he won 1st prize in the World Bank International Essay Competition for his work on an educational social venture.
Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Oliver is passionate about emerging markets, innovation, entrepreneurship, and brand building.
HACK THE DIASPORA 
Oliver, my name is John Cabato. I am a recently retired corporate executive. I am giving an public talk (unpaid) for a friend who has invested in the Philippines. I am seeking your permission to cite your blog entry (4 point plan) and drive folks that I will be talking to to your site and your ideas (which I support) on our country’s economic recovery. I am a fellow Atenean (AB PoS 1987). My contacts are found below.
Hi Oliver. I have to thank you for sharing your thoughts particularly with your latest article on Cebu Pacific. I too, just wanted to share with you, despite whatever misgivings we may have about the airline, it has been a success story from the start and has enabled a lot of Filipinos the opportunity of having a budget airline the opportunity to travel. Imagine the days when PAL was the only airline serving the country. But now that its grown much better (for the first time, its now flies to Australia where I am based) it needs to be more customer focus as what you think it needs. Lets help Lance G make it happen for the benefit of the riding public. Let me know if you like to join me in exploring this opportunity.
This is not NEWS at all. This has been going on yearly basis.
Thank you for writing about Cebu Pacific’s latest debacle and probably the best evidence that someone is not minding the store. I used to patronize them but my experience has progressively worsened so i have stopped. They are a victim of their own success and truly believe they are not ready for the increase in business, which is surprising knowing who owns the company. In any case, loking forward to the next article.