Ravi Kolathur is the Chief Business Officer at the Indian School of Business. He heads the Business Affairs group comprising teams that manage the Operations, HR, Commercial, Legal and Master Plan Projects. Starting in 2001 as a Director in the Development team, Kolathur served the School for five years until 2006 and rose to the position of Assistant Dean – Business Affairs. After a break of three years, Kolathur rejoined the School in April 2009 as the Chief Business Officer and is a member of the Dean’s Council.

After starting his career with a brief stint at Nagarjuna Steels Ltd (1979-80), and working for six years with Hindustan Unilever Ltd (1980-86), he turned entrepreneurial in his pursuits, set up firms of his own and worked for start-ups or early-growth-stage companies. He has worked in senior and top management positions across diverse manufacturing and services sectors such as FMCG, accounting and auditing, merchant banking, stock-broking, investor relations, consulting, education, real estate, infrastructure and education.

Kolathur obtained his undergraduate degree and the gold medal in commerce from the Osmania University (1976), qualified as a Chartered Accountant (1979) securing the 33rd position in all India merit ranking, and as a Cost Accountant (1980). He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and an Associate of the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India. Kolathur is passionate about practicing and upholding high standards of professionalism, ethics and moral values in business, and mentoring young aspiring professionals.