Olaplex bolsters leadership team with two new appointments

Olaplex has strengthened its executive leadership team, appointing Catherine Dunleavy as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, effective 13 August 2024.

Dunleavy will join Olaplex from travel accessories brand Away, where she has served as President and Chief Financial Officer, following tenures at Nike, Comcast, NBC Universal, and GE.

In her new role, she will oversee the breadth of Olaplex's business operations, aligning all functions to most effectively execute on the company's strategy and drive results as it targets growth.

The appointment of Dunleavy comes as Katie Gohman takes on the new role Chief Marketing Officer at the business.

Bringing experience from prestige retail and beauty brands, Gohman began her career at L’Oréal and went on to hold marketing leadership positions at L’Oréal, Ralph Lauren and Coach. She most recently served as CMO of Marc Jacobs.

In her new role, Gohman will oversee the execution of Olaplex's  global marketing efforts in a bid to drive greater brand awareness, relevance, and affinity with both stylists and consumers.

Amanda Baldwin, CEO of Olaplex, said: "I am thrilled to welcome these two talented executives as we continue developing a strategy that is designed to harness Olaplex's many strengths and enables our company to achieve its true potential."

Baldwin was named as CEO in October 2023, replacing JuE Wong, who stepped down after more than three years in the role.

Baldwin joined the company from Supergoop, where she served as CEO since July 2016. She also previously led the omnichannel marketing strategy of Dior Beauty at LVMH and held several positions at Clinique, a part of The Estée Lauder Companies.

The new appointments come as Olaplex progresses its transformation plan, which launched earlier this year following sales declines.

The strategy includes a greater focus on the brand's professional stylist channel as it looks to "bring Olaplex back to the forefront of product innovation and earn brand love by elevating its product development and marketing capabilities across all markets".

Olaplex also intends to focus on its existing customers and strengthen core products and current channels of distribution while "limiting new distribution this year and combating the diversion of products by closing some accounts where we find evidence that distributors were the source of diverted product".