John O’Brien is specialist in the financing and growth of technologies and companies in the sustainability, clean technology and emissions reductions sectors. He also works with companies looking to benefit from utilising clean technologies to improve their operational efficiency and branding position.

John is the founder and Managing Director of Australian CleanTech and has advised numerous organizations on their options with respect to securing or making cleantech investments. He facilitates the Adelaide and Sydney Cleantech Networks that provide fora for cleantech collaboration, publishes the Australian Cleantech Index and the Australian Cleantech Review, is on the board of cleantech companies involved in solar farms, wind farms, biosensors and plastics recycling (the latter being based in Fujian Province, China).

John is also an Adjunct Lecturer in Leadership and Entrepreneurship on the MBA at the University of Adelaide and is a member of the South Australian Premier’s Climate Change Council.

He has published a collection of essays titled Opportunities Beyond Carbon (Melbourne University Press), which seeks to refocus the climate debate away from all the potential bad consequences and towards the many opportunities with which we are now faced.

John’s recent projects include:

• Cleantech Skills Study for the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology;
• South Australian Cleantech Capability Study for the Department of Trade and Economic Development;
• Strategic Review of the City of Salisbury’s Stormwater Harvesting business;
• Market Research Reports for the Clean Energy Council;
• Solar industry review for Santos Ltd;
• Technology and industry review for BluGlass, a  listed technology company; and
• Australian Coal Seam Methane industry review for Gaz de France

John previously worked for Origin Energy on growth, strategy and M&A projects in addition to being the founding secretary of the company’s Operational Risk Committee. He specialized in reviewing and filtering clean energy and water industry opportunities.

Prior to joining the Australian energy industry, John held teaching, oil and gas and consulting engineering roles in the UK, Canada and the Middle East.  He also had operational responsibility for pipeline construction projects, gas distribution network operations, gas pipeline development and operations and the development and implementation of cogeneration and ‘natural gas for vehicles’ strategies. He has developed and implemented water operations projects, including managing the Coliban Water outsourcing project, and a proposed fibre optic network project in conjunction with the SEAgas pipeline.

John has Engineering degrees from the University of Oxford and Trinity College, Dublin and an MBA from the University of Adelaide. He has completed the AICD’s Company Directors Course and is a chartered engineer with the Institute of Engineers Australia.