Peder Holk Nielsen, born 1956, has dedicated his career to the field of industrial biotechnology, beginning in 1984 as a Marketing Manager in the Enzymes Division of Novo A/S.
Through the years, Peder has worked in many different parts of the business, shaping the company as it is today and solidifying the market insight and research capabilities that will foster Novozymes in the future.
Peder’s career path quickly took him into a number of leadership roles. In 1987 he became Head of the New Business Development Group. He took over as Vice President in R&D in 1990. In 1995 Peder joined the management team of the enzyme business in Novo Nordisk A/S, initially as Corporate Vice President of Development and Quality management, and from 1999 he led Sales and Marketing in the enzymes business.
He held this position until the demerger of Novozymes from Novo Nordisk in 2000.With the creation of Novozymes, Peder continued running the operational side of the business as Executive Vice President, responsible for sales, marketing and supply chain activities.
In 2007, he assumed leadership for all of Enzyme Business,including production, procurement, development and quality management. He took over as CEO in 2013.
During his many years in management, Peder has focused on developing Novozymes’ organization, people and processes to effectively turn customer insights into product ideas and deliver solutions that excite customers.
Peder Holk Nielsen holds a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and a B.Com. in International Business Management from Copenhagen Business School.
Peder serves on the Board of Directors of Hempel A/S, a developer and supplier of coatings, and of LEO Pharma A/S, a company specialized in dermatological and thrombotic treatments.
Peder co-chairs the B20 Task Force on Energy, Climate and Resource Efficiency and sits on the Board of Trustees of the United States Council for International Business.
He is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce’s G20 CEO Advisory Group and advises the Danish government on trade, production and digitization issues.
