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Javier Olivan Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 29, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth1977

Age45 (as of 2022)

BirthplaceSabiñánigo, Huesca, Spain

ProfessionChief Growth Officer and VP of Cross-Meta Products and Infrastructure at Meta

NationalitySpanish

Marital statusMarried

FamilyTwo children; parents Florian Olivan Gavin and María Pilar

Javier Olivan Biography

Spanish engineer and longtime Meta executive known for leading international growth and central product efforts. Olivan rose through Facebook/Meta to serve

Early life and background
Javier Olivan was born in 1977 and grew up in Sabiñánigo in the Huesca province of northern Spain. His childhood in the Pyrenees included outdoor pursuits such as paragliding. He is the son of Florian Olivan Gavin and María Pilar, who worked as a teacher in a public institute in Sabiñánigo.

Education
Olivan trained as an engineer. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and completed a master’s degree in Automatic Engineering and Industrial Electronics at the University of Navarra. He later attended Stanford University, where he completed an MBA with support from the Rafael del Pino Excellence Scholarship. During his studies he also took part in a yearlong entrepreneurial program run by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation in 2001.

Career
After university, Olivan began his professional career in Europe. He joined Siemens in Munich in December 2000 as an R&D engineer. He then moved to Tokyo, where from September 2001 to August 2002 he led an R&D group at NTT Data working on software for high-quality mobile video transmission. He returned to Siemens in 2003 as an Advanced Procurement Engineer and was promoted to Product Manager in 2004 before leaving the company in 2005.

Following Siemens, he had short-term roles including business development work at Fon Wireless in mid-2006 and a summer associate position at Scale VP. In October 2007 he joined Facebook (now Meta) as Head of International Growth. Over the following years he rose through product and growth leadership positions: promoted to VP of Growth in November 2011, to VP of Central Products in May 2018, and named Chief Growth Officer in January 2022 while also serving as VP of Cross-Meta Products and Infrastructure.

At Meta, Olivan’s responsibilities have included user adoption strategies, product analytics, internationalization, UX research, data science, and content strategy for central products such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. He led efforts to translate the service into more than 100 languages and to adapt the product for lower-end and slower mobile devices through “lite” versions of the apps.

Board and fellowship roles
Olivan has served on external boards and participated in leadership programs. He was a board member of MercadoLibre.com from December 2012 until August 2019, and joined the board of the nonprofit organization Endeavor in 2020. He was selected as a Henry Crown Fellow and participated in the Aspen Institute’s program from 2014 to 2016.

Public profile
In June 2022, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Olivan would become Meta’s Chief Operating Officer following Sheryl Sandberg’s departure. As of 2022 Olivan holds the title of Chief Growth Officer and Vice President of Cross-Meta Products and Infrastructure. He is known for his language skills—speaking Spanish, English, German, French, and Japanese—and for practical engineering work that enabled global adoption of Meta’s core services.

Personal life
Olivan is married and has two children. He lives with his family in Palo Alto, California as of 2022. He is described as a polyglot and an occasional drinker.

Latest updates
In August 2022 he is identified as Chief Growth Officer at Meta. Earlier in 2022 Mark Zuckerberg publicly named him as the company’s next Chief Operating Officer. Within Meta, his remit has continued to span growth, central product strategy, and cross-product infrastructure.
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Recent Work

Chief Growth Officer and VP of Cross-Meta Products and Infrastructure at Meta

Led user adoption, internationalization, product analytics, UX research, and content strategy across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp; responsible for translations and lightweight app versions.

2022
Head of International Growth / VP roles at Facebook/Meta

Joined Facebook in 2007 and advanced through leadership positions including VP of Growth and VP of Central Products before becoming Chief Growth Officer.

2007-2022
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Career Highlights

  1. Joined Facebook (Meta) as Head of International Growth in October 2007
  2. Promoted to VP of Growth in November 2011 and VP of Central Products in May 2018
  3. Named Chief Growth Officer of Meta in January 2022 while serving as VP of Cross-Meta Products and Infrastructure
  4. Recognized for translating Meta services into 100+ languages and creating "lite" app versions
  5. Served on the board of MercadoLibre.com (2012–2019) and joined Endeavor's board in 2020
  6. Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute (2014–2016)
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Javier Olivan born?

1977

What is Javier Olivan known for?

Chief Growth Officer and VP of Cross-Meta Products and Infrastructure at Meta

What is Javier Olivan’s marital status?

Married