Each week, we dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, we speak to Angela Tangas, global CEO of marketing agency Oliver, about her career in Square Mile and Me

CV

• Name: Angela Tangas
• Job title: Global CEO at Oliver and chief strategy officer at The Brandtech Group
• Previous roles: CEO of Dentsu UK & Ireland
• Born: Melbourne, Australia
• Lives: London, UK
• Studied: Bachelor of Business (Marketing & Finance)
• Talents: Interior design and property renovations – I’m onto my fifth one!
• Motto: You don’t wait for certainty. You grow in the gap.
• Biggest perk of the job? Making a difference – people, business, planet.
• Coffee order: Cortado to go
• Cocktail order: Dry Gin Martini (Lemon Twist)
• Favourite book: Atomic Habits, James Clear

What was your first job? 

Saturday job whilst still at school, working at my local supermarket behind the deli counter – slicing hams, prepping roast chickens, that sort of thing. 

What was your first role in marketing?

My first role in marketing was nearly 30 years ago whilst doing work experience at Telstra. 

When did you know you wanted to build a career in marketing?

I’m super curious and thrive on identifying opportunities – so a career in marketing, and in turn business, felt like a natural fit. I can’t stand complexity but navigate it well. That’s why business transformation, particularly in the age of AI, has become such a passion: it taps into all of the things that I enjoy – problem solving, seeing new opportunities and the ability to make a positive impact. 

What’s one thing you love about the City of London? 

Its diversity. There’s nowhere else quite like it where you can have hundreds of different experiences and degrees of conversation without having to go very far. It shapes you in a way few other places can, and I’ve learned a lot about myself since living here.

And one thing you would change? 

Hah, embrace the wabi-sabi!  

What’s been your most memorable business lunch?

Meeting Jack Dorsey, the founder of Square (and prior to that Twitter), at the very beginning of that company’s journey. Here was someone not much older than me, literally on the verge of transforming an entire industry, with such clarity of vision and a clear understanding of the value he was creating.

And any business faux pas? 

Early in my career I occasionally got people’s names wrong – and being Australian, pronunciation can sometimes be challenging! It taught me to be fully present during introductions and to take the time to truly connect and engage.  

What’s been your proudest moment?

There isn’t one – life is a learning journey and your proudest moments evolve.

I feel the greatest joy when a brilliant team and I make things happen in ways that haven’t been done before. That ‘why not’ mindset is easy to say, much harder to put into practice, but my career has been built on it.

I don’t take myself too seriously, but I do believe that whatever you do deserves the very best of you. As a leader, the greatest reward is seeing how those experiences help your team, your clients and the talent around you grow.

And who do you look up to?

I wouldn’t say there is any one person. But I always admire the ‘underdog’. The tenacity, the resilience and sheer motivation to accomplish something that no one thought you could, is super motivating and inspiring. And those stories are in abundance; you just need to seek them out – as the underdog is often very humble.  

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given?

A mentor once told me, “Learn the shape of it first. Then act.”

In every transformation pursuit since, I’ve started by mapping what’s real, what stays and what goes, what good looks like in three to five years, and the smallest action that will test the path. Pause long enough to see clearly – then move.

And the worst?

“Preserve performance no matter what.”

Preserving performance at all costs rarely works if the underlying challenges remain unaddressed. It’s the classic transformation fail: protecting short-term results at the expense of mid-to-long term success. 

Are you optimistic for the year ahead? 

1,000 per cent optimist. I lead a company that is at the forefront of marketing transformation, combining great technology, talent and capabilities to help some of the world’s biggest brands transform how their marketing gets done.

But it goes beyond marketing. We’re helping large, often complex organisations rewire their internal and external ecosystems – from talent and culture to long-term competitiveness. Over the next 12-18 months, success won’t be defined by the technology itself, but by how effectively it’s used and how deeply change is embedded across an organisation. Tech moves at the speed of tech; people move at the speed of people. 

We’re going for lunch, and you’re picking – where are we going? 

I love Asian food so my pick would have to be China Tang at the Dorchester.

And if we’re grabbing a drink after work? 

No particular place as long as it’s quiet, jazz is playing and the conversation and company is good, I am happy.

Where’s home during the week?

Home is London when not travelling back and forth to New York. I live close to Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park, so there’s no shortage of good walks and nice little places to dine.

And where might we find you at the weekend?

If I’m in London, you’ll likely find me at the theatre, or in a museum if it is raining. I also try to get back to Australia as much as I can, where you’ll find me on the Mornington Peninsular with a cold glass of Pinot Grigio and an Angasi oyster, native to the area, soaking up the views across the Bass Straight.

You’ve got a well-deserved two weeks off. Where are you going and who with?

It depends on the time of year. If I’m not heading back to Australia, it might be a quick trip to Rome or Paris to indulge two of my great passions, architecture and fashion. I also enjoy escaping to Cornwall – off-peak, ideally – with my husband and nine-year-old daughter.