Hans-Olaf Henkel (born 14 March 1940) is a German politician, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany and a publicist.
He was formerly a manager at IBM, president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and president of the Leibniz Association Archived 3 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine. After decades as a political observer, he was elected to the European Parliament in 2014 for the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland). In response to the election of Frauke Petry as the new federal chairman in July 2015, he resigned from the AfD. He is now an independent member of the European Conservatives and Reformists.
Contents
Life and career
Hans-Olaf Henkel was born and raised in Hamburg. He studied at the Akademie für Gemeinwirtschaft, which merged as Universität für Wirtschaft und Politik (HWP) with Hamburg University in 2005. Henkel joined IBM Germany in 1962. From September 1993 to December 1994 he was head of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa with his office in Paris. From 1995 to 2000 he was the president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
He was president of the Leibniz Association from 2001 to 2005. Henkel is also a board member of the Deutscher Familienverband (German family association).