Eşref Hilmi Açık

Eşref Hilmi Açık is an entrepreneur who combines 25 years of leadership experience with sustainability, circular economy, and innovation. Within Oleago Sustainable Products, where he is the co-founder and CEO, he focuses his efforts on developing technologies that transform agricultural waste into high value-added sustainable materials and commercializing circular economy solutions.

Through Oleago, he transforms agricultural by-products resulting from the olive processing industry into high value-added sustainable materials using patented technologies; with the Oleatex® brand he developed, he offers innovative solutions for the fashion, automotive, and lifestyle sectors. With his approach of "there is no waste, only lost resources," he believes that the circular economy is much more than just recycling. He focuses on bringing the technologies he has developed to international markets. His work receives significant attention on national and international platforms; Oleatex® has participated in various international innovation programs, most notably the 2026 Amazon Devices Climate Tech Accelerator. In addition, Açık plays an active role as a speaker and change mentor in the fields of sustainability, circular economy, and innovation.

Behind this entrepreneurial identity lies a strong corporate and strategic background. Starting his career in the Turkish Armed Forces, Açık served in the areas of strategic planning, operations management, and business development for approximately 15 years. Subsequently, he held senior executive positions in the food, ready-to-wear, and printing-packaging sectors, leading processes of budget management, company scaling, and organizational transformation. He is recognized for his systemic thinking, long-term perspective, and ability to establish common ground among diverse stakeholders.

He completed his Business Administration and Executive MBA programs at Sabancı University (including the MIT Sloan leadership program), holds a master's degree in Strategy Science from Gebze Technical University, and is currently pursuing his doctoral studies in engineering at Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa. By combining his academic research with industrial applications, he focuses on the commercialization of sustainable technologies; he believes that sustainability will only create lasting value as long as it is economically viable.

Areas of Support

• Sustainability and circular economy strategies

• Sustainability-oriented business model development and commercialization

• Innovation and new product development

• Scaling cleantech startups

• Strategic planning and growth

• Corporate transformation and change management

• International business development

• Leadership and organizational development

Areas of Expertise

Sustainability | Circular Economy | Sustainable Product Innovation | Cleantech and Startup Scaling | Strategic Planning and Growth | Corporate Transformation | International Business Development | Leadership and Change Management