Lara Olsen
BEng (Chem) (Hons), BArts, MBA, GAICD
Managing Director

Lara was appointed as our Managing Director on 17 February 2020, leading the delivery of water, sewerage and recycled water services to 1.91 million people who rely on us every day and every night. Lara is also a director of Iota, a wholly-owned subsidiary of our organisation and a director of Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) and a director on the Frankston Revitalisation Board. Lara has extensive experience in the utility sector, focused on customer experience and innovation. Before joining us, Lara was the Global Head of Business Development and Industrial Products at Tesla Energy based in the USA and also led the Business Development and Industrial Products team for Tesla Australia. Previous roles include head of strategy for CitiPower PowerCor and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Project Leader with the Boston Consulting Group and co-founding Billcap, an energy platform that helps customers and retailers manage their usage and bills.

Andrew Forster-Knight
BEng, BSci
Interim General Manager Service Delivery 

Andrew currently leads the teams within our Service Delivery Group.  Over the last 20 years, Andrew has pioneered the development of a range of technology-based innovations that have delivered efficiency and reliability benefits to water network operators, and helped to increase liveability and affordability for water utility customers. In his position as Operational Technology Manager, Andrew has played a key role in the development and delivery of our Digital Utility program, including the trial and roll out of Advanced BlokAid®, OneBox® and digital meter technology in our network. Andrew joined South East Water in 2003. 

Kim Murray 
Interim General Manager Finance and Technology 

Kim currently leads the finance and digital group which oversees the finance, business improvement and business technology services functions of the business. 

Charlie Littlefair
BEng (Civil), FIEAust, CPEng, EngExec, NER, APEC Engineer, IntPE(NZ), CMEngNZ, GAICD
General Manager Liveable Water Solutions 

Charlie leads the Liveable Water Solutions group, which manages the land development, resource recovery, liveability, connections, reliability, growth, liveable and sustainable futures and strategic asset management functions of the business. Previously he was General Manager Asset Investment and prior to that General Manager Operations for Metrowater in Auckland. Charlie has more than 30 years of international experience in the water and sewerage industry, having worked for both private and public water utility organisations including Opus International Consultants, Acer Engineering (a subsidiary of Severn Trent Water) and NZ Forest Products across New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Charlie joined South East Water in 2008.

Kathy Bremner
General Manager People, Safety and Governance 

Kathy Bremner leads the People, Safety and Governance group, responsible for overseeing our organisation’s key people functions of payroll, employee experience, talent and safety and wellbeing. Her role also encompasses our Governance group, which is responsible for our organisation’s risk management, legal and compliance functions. Bringing a wealth of experience from roles at Ausnet Services and Pacific Hydro, Kathy’s career has seen her lead human resources, safety, legal and risk teams amongst others. She has also led a number of transformation projects focused on culture and governance with the goal of improving safety and employee engagement. Kathy joined South East Water in April 2022.

Daniel Sullivan
BBus, MBA, GAICD
General Manager Research, Innovation and Commercialisation 

Daniel has 20 years’ experience in senior management across a variety of sectors, holding senior roles in technology and consulting organisations. Daniel also has 12 years of international experience working with Austrade as a diplomatically-posted senior trade official. He has worked out of Australian embassies in Washington, D.C and Latin America where he developed a sectoral focus on water resource management. Daniel commenced as a Director on the board of the Australian peak industry body, the Australian Water Association, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has an MBA from the Melbourne Business School. Daniel also leads Iota Services, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of South East Water.

Lara Salembier
GAICD
General Manager, Customer Experience 

Lara joined South East Water in 2015 and has held several senior roles across the organisation before taking on the role of General Manager, Customer Experience in 2023. Lara leads the organisation’s customer contact centre teams, as well as the affordability, customer strategy and insights portfolios. An experienced people and business leader, Lara previously led South East Water’s People Operations team and has held Acting General Manager roles in People and Safety and Customer Experience. In her most recent role as Group Manager Customer Contact, Lara redesigned South East Water’s customer contact business model and delivered a refreshed Customer Interaction Framework, helping to create a positive experience for our customers. Prior to joining South East Water Lara worked across a number of diverse organisations in HR leadership roles, amongst others. Lara is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Karen Lau
BA, BCom (Hons), FIPAA (Vic)
General Manager, Strategy and Stakeholder

Karen joined South East Water in June 2023 as General Manager of the Strategy and Stakeholder group. Karen leads South East Water’s strategy, regulation and water resources functions as well the organisation’s marketing, communications and engagement portfolios. An experienced water industry professional, her career spans senior executive leadership roles across the Victorian Public Sector. Prior to joining South East Water, Karen was an Executive Director in the Department of Energy Environment and Climate Action, providing policy, strategy, regulatory, program and people leadership. She has led strategic initiatives in water and land management, waste and recycling, biodiversity, environment protection and climate action. Karen has previously held Executive Director roles leading the performance and integrity division at the Victorian Public Sector Commission and policy and project roles at the Department of Human Services. Karen is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (Vic).

Mark Elvins 
Interim General Manager, Digital Utility 

Mark currently leads the Program, Customer Change, Digital Field Services and Digital Analytics and Performance teams within our Digital Utility group.