40under40 Judge - Richard Thorning

RICHARD THORNING  Optus  general manager WA

Richard Thorning was appointed general manager, Western Australia for SingTel Optus Pty Limited in June 2001.

This role carries geographic responsibility for customer satisfaction, business growth and human resources.

The general manager plays a key role in positioning the company as the telecommunications provider of choice in the Western Australian community.

Joining Optus in October 2000, Mr Thorning relocated to Sydney as general manager, operations.

Immediately prior to joining Optus, Mr Thorning was state general manager for Telstra Retail in WA.

In his previous career he enjoyed a wide variety of roles at IBM over a 22-

year period, firstly in the UK, then migrating to Perth in 1984.

Mr Thorning performed a number of sales, marketing and management roles in IBM – the last two positions being state sales manager, WA, and general manager, South Australia.

He is a member of the board of management for the Optus Chair of e-Business at Curtin University of Technology and is completing an executive MBA program at Curtin Graduate School of Business.