Our People

Ronan O'Hara joined Crown Estate Scotland as Chief Executive in September 2022. He leads the staff team and works with the board and the Scottish Government to deliver Crown Estate Scotland's objectives as a new public corporation.

He is an experienced senior leader with over 25 years cross-sectoral and cross-jurisdictional experience, specialising in property and infrastructure investment, strategy development, sustainability, value creation and leading change.

Ronan's career has included work with central government, local government and the third sector, across the infrastructure, property, economic development, construction, real estate and investment sectors in the UK, Ireland, Europe and North America.

Prior to joining Crown Estate Scotland, Ronan held various leadership roles including senior appointments at the University of Cambridge, Northern Ireland’s Strategic Investment Board, American Express and the Building Research Establishment, amongst others. 

Ronan holds a Bachelor’s degree in environmental biology and Master’s degrees in Business and Finance, Building Surveying and Applied Environmental Sciences from the Queens University Belfast, the Open University Business School and London Southbank University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Housing. 
 

Esther has worked in media, public affairs and strategic communications for over 20 years. She started her career as a journalist before working in the Scottish Parliament for a group of MSPs.

During a period in Australia, she worked in crisis communications for fast-moving consumer goods companies then for international environmental groups including Pew, WWF and Nature Conservancy.

Returning to the UK, she continued in consultancy before moving to The Crown Estate in 2013. She now oversees communications, partnerships and engagement, and policy, for Crown Estate Scotland.

Esther is currently taking a six-month career break from Crown Estate Scotland

Oster is a Chartered commercial property surveyor, with over 14 years’ experience in leading multi-skilled property teams to deliver commercial property investment initiatives, capital projects and asset management.

Most recently Head of Estates at Port of London Authority, he has held a variety of roles in asset management and surveying over the course of his career.

Oster is responsible for our rural and coastal assets, which include 37,000 hectares of rural land with forestry, farming, commercial and residential tenants as well as around half of Scotland’s coastline with ports, harbours and 5,800 moorings.

He holds a BSc in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Zambia, an MSc in Real Estates Management from Birmingham City University and an Executive MBA in Business Administration from Henley Business School. He is also a member of and APC assessor for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and a Prince2 practitioner.

Alastair joined Crown Estate Scotland in February 2020 and oversees Finance, HR, IT/GIS, Commercial, Procurement and Business Support.

After graduating from The University of Glasgow with a Bachelor of Accountancy degree, Alastair started his career with KPMG before moving to work in the leisure and restaurant industry. He then moved to the nursing home sector as European Controller for a large US based nursing home group.

After several years in commerce, Alastair started working in the Further and Higher Education sector where he held Vice Principal and Director roles at several institutions throughout the UK.

Alastair is a Fellow Chartered and Certified Accountant (FCCA) and is a board member of the Glasgow Colleges’ Regional Board.

Sian has worked in the offshore renewable energy industry for 18 years. She studied Environmental Science at the University of Manchester, Offshore Technology at Cranfield University and has completed an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School.

Sian spent her early career in Surrey and London, where she worked as an offshore renewable energy consultant and then moved into a more strategic role at The Crown Estate in 2012. In 2015 she moved back to Scotland and saw the formation of Crown Estate Scotland in 2017.

Today, Sian leads on offshore renewable energy and aquaculture for Crown Estate Scotland. Her remit also includes carbon capture & storage and cables & pipelines.

Mike’s career has spanned four decades in the private and public sectors, in which time he has worked extensively in commercial leadership roles.  His experience in technical safety systems, materials manufacturing and marine services has involved close engagement with the aquaculture, oil & gas, renewables and  maritime industries in the UK and globally.

Most recently, he led the commercial arm of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

He founded and led the Kinross-shire DofE Open Group - an organisation which aims to give young people the opportunity to develop skills for work and life and to fulfil their potential – and continues to volunteer there.

Mike has responsibility for the Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystem Services directorate within Crown Estate Scotland.

Ann is an experienced senior leader with over 20 years of cross-sectoral experience, particularly in the areas of infrastructure delivery and economic development. Ann’s career has included working with central government, local government, infrastructure, economic development, construction and utility sectors across the UK, Ireland and South Asia.

Prior to joining Crown Estate Scotland, Ann was Head of Economic Development, Planning and Climate Change at Stirling Council where she led on major investment portfolios including City Deal, Inward Investment, Culture and Tourism, Planning and Building Standards, Public Transport, Active Travel, Energy and Sustainability. Ann also spent 6 years with Scottish Futures Trust, initially as Territory Programme Director on the hub programme and latterly led the infrastructure delivery of the Early Years Expansion Programme. Previous roles include working in Management Consulting, Engineering Consulting and nearly 5 years delivery major project and programmes at the Environment Agency in England. Ann holds a Bachelors degree in Environmental Engineering from Mysore, India and a Masters degree in Applied Economics at the University of Strathclyde.

Ann has responsibility for the Development, Capital Delivery and Decarbonisation directorate with Crown Estate Scotland.