Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE, current Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, could be described as core British values personified: integrity, excellence, social mobility, justice and inclusion for all.  Ken, as he always introduces himself, is an exceptional man. 

Raised alone by his formidable mother after his father, a Nigerian lawyer, had abandoned them in the early 1950s, Ken grew up in a working class part of Nottingham in a house with an outside loo and his favourite playground was a bombsite amongst buildings levelled in WWII.  He moved smoothly from the local primary school, where his headmaster played classical music in assemblies and made all the children try caviar so they would never be intimidated by the elite, to grammar school and on to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. 

The recipient of an IBM scholarship at university, Ken rose quickly through the ranks at IBM and then Wang Laboratories going on to found and then float his first technology merchant bank, before setting up Restoration Partners of which he is still, rather astoundingly considering the rest of his responsibilities, Chairman.  He is also Chair of Shaw Trust, Founder and Chair of the Aleto Foundation and the generous donor for a stunning new library at his alma mater. 

Other career achievements include being the first British born black man to be on the board of a listed UK company; chairing the homelessness charity Thames Reach for over twenty years; coining the now renowned phrase “more Soviet than City” after being thrown off the board of the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, serving as an inaugural member of IPSA sorting out the MPs’ expenses scandal and, most recently, his principled defence of Lady Barbara Judge of the Institute for Directors. 
 
In many ways Ken’s view of the world is beautifully simple.  Crediting all his fundamental beliefs to his mother, he holds that everyone must do their best, injustice must be fought and no talent should be wasted.  People are on a spectrum of good and evil he explains: everyone does everything for their own fulfilment but good people get gratification from helping people, sharing their talents and resources and being positive members of society. 

Evil folk are the opposite – their immovable drive comes from a desire to profit from the suffering of others.  The difference between bad people and evil ones is that bad people are capable of redemption.  People whose thrills come from actions that only benefit themselves - buying a 500ft boat for example - are bad.  But they can learn from the good citizens that there is also a buzz to be gained from helping others.  A thrill that is far greater that that to be gained from selfish pleasures. 
 
Take the Olisa Library at Fitzwilliam, which Ken and his wife Julia’s £2 million gift in 2011 made possible.  Ken calls this his proudest philanthropic achievement as well as the cause of his greatest philanthropic thrill.  Fitzwilliam was originally established to provide a Cambridge education to undergraduates who were unable to afford membership of a college.  Ken emphasises the college’s continued pride in its commitment to widening access based on its heritage as a home for outsiders and the spirit of solidarity this brings to its undergraduates: the institution is elite but not elitist.  He delights in the story that he was encouraged by his tutor to enjoy everything Cambridge had to offer and not to bother aiming for a first; and credits his enthusiastic pursuit of that advice with “settling his life” and setting him on the path to future success. 
 
And the naming of the library?  “That’s the thrilling part” he says, “I want to be able to enjoy what I can give back in my own lifetime and we wanted our children to see how happy it has made their parents to give away money to help strangers.”  Happily, it is a buzz that keeps on giving.  For example, one cold, wet evening in London he was late for a meeting and frustrated to be waiting in the rain for a taxi.  “A young man accosted me: asking if I was Mr Olisa.  He apologised for bothering me but said he was a Fitz alumnus and just wanted to thank me for the library and tell me how much it meant to him.  I have never had a feeling like it, I was walking on air for the rest of the day.  I am immensely proud of the work of Thames Reach and Shaw Trust for example, but I have very little to do directly with their success, whereas the library, it’s me.”
 
As you would expect from such a successful man, there is no question that his calm demeanour and positive spirit are underpinned by a phenomenal will. He has encapsulated his world view in his official, College of Arms motto – Do Well. Do Good.  But when he tells me his unofficial family motto “DFWTO”, it is with a glint in his eye that dares me to be shocked – I won’t expand the abbreviation but suffice to say it summarises a clear recommendation to respect the Olisas! 
 
Ken speaks with huge pride of his wife’s charity work helping ex-homeless men and women conquer illiteracy and their two daughters, one an entrepreneur and the other a champion for women in business, but emphasises that the girls have made it on their own.  He and his wife have helped them financially on occasion, but a loan really meant a loan.  That said he certainly doesn’t disapprove of inherited wealth – in fact he sees envy as one of the most negative of emotions.
 
In his role as Lord-Lieutenant, he is exhilarated to play a part in upholding the dignity of the monarchy.  He sees the Royal Family as cultural representatives of the goodness in our society and is bowled over by their tireless commitment to other people.  He cites as an example the establishment of a Met Police cadet unit at the Al-Manaar Mosque near the Grenfell Tower as evidence of the power of the goodwill created by visits from Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex.