Mourning at ICDLI for General Secretary

It is with great sadness that the International Committee of the Decorative Laminates Industry (ICDLI) announce the death of its General Secretary Ralf Olsen. He passed away suddenly on Sunday, 2 July 2023, at the age of 61. For more than 20 years, OIsen shaped the ICDLI as its leading figure. His unexpected death leaves a big gap – both humanly and professionally. Ralf Olsen led the association from the very first minute with great passion, great commitment and a lot of heart. With tireless energy, he set topics, passed on know-how and promoted the concerns of the member companies until the end.

“The entire ICDLI family is deeply saddened by the sudden death of Ralf Olsen from a heart attack in Austria. Ralf was a imperturbable advocate for the HPL industry, a committed bridge builder between people and interest groups and a highly respected professional“, Miguel Nogueira, President ICDLI and Director Surforma, paid tribute to the deceased. “Our most heartfelt condolences to his wife, his daughter and all his friends and colleagues around the world. Ralf will be sorely missed.“

Ralf formed the ICDLI into a powerful voice of the HPL industry in Europe. Under his aegis, the 2019 launched multilingual HPL compendium developed into the crucial pillar of the organisation's knowledge transfer initiative, conveying practical knowledge on HPL to processors, suppliers and architects as well as to specialists of tomorrow. Over the past few years, Ralf developed the European HPL Summit into a multi-faceted event on industry mega-trends in design, technique, environment and market data, bringing together leading representatives of the HPL industry, its suppliers and top speakers from all over Europe – and underlying the attractiveness of the ICDLI as the European industry association for HPL.

His mission was to create a strong and successful European community of the manufacturers as well as to continue the success story of HPL. In 2023, there can be stated that this goal is accomplished: Thanks to his strong leadership, the influence and global visibility of the ICDLI as an industry representative for HPL has been strengthened and the number of member companies has increased continuously.

Ralf studied economics at the University of Heidelberg. In January 2001, he took over the Chief Executive position at pro-K Industrial Association for long-lasting plastic products and reusable systems e.V. (until June 2023: pro-K Industrial Association for semi-finished and consumer products made of plastic e.V.), which he has held until now. In 2002, he also became General Secretary of the ICDLI.

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