Julian Ovens is a Partner at Crestview Strategy based in Ottawa.
Julian brings extensive experience as an international corporate development leader, a natural resources executive, and a senior political advisor. Julian sits on the Boards of Directors of the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) and the Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum (AusCan).
Julian was Chief of Staff to two of Canada’s International Trade Ministers in the Trudeau government, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2018 The Hill Times named Julian among the Top 40 Influencing Canadian Foreign Policy. He was Head of Strategy and Development, Potash (formerly Diamonds) at BHP in Saskatoon and Project Director, Iron Ore Africa, BHP Minerals Exploration, based in Singapore. He previously led commercial efforts for development projects and engaged in global mergers & acquisitions for BHP Billiton Aluminium in London. Julian led or contributed to buy, sell-side and spin-off international transactions across the globe in the corporate Mergers & Acquisitions team of (Rio Tinto) Alcan, based in Paris and Montreal.
He began his finance career in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston (now UBS) in Toronto. His career in federal politics started when he worked at the House of Commons as an assistant to two Parliamentary Secretaries.
Julian received his ESG Global Competent Board Certificate (GCB.D) in 2021. He holds an Honours Business Administration degree from the Ivey Business School at Western University and studied Economics and Political Science at the University of Ottawa. Julian is fluent in French.