Ep 122 - Dissecting security at the Paris Olympics

In this episode of the Security Insider podcast, we speak with
Neil Fergus, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Intelligent Risks
Pty Ltd. Neil founded Intelligent Risks in 2001 following a
20-year career in the Australian Government; including roles as a
senior diplomat, as Manager Middle East and as the Principal
Operations Adviser. He has since led IR’s growth into becoming a
pre-eminent international management services firm. He is an
internationally recognised speaker and author on risk management,
security, KRE and terrorism; and is a co-author of Security Risk
Management (HB167 – 2006).


 


He has been a senior adviser to the Commonwealth Games Federation
(CGF) since 2004, on six Commonwealth Games. He has also been
engaged in the planning and delivery of security for 11 Olympic
Games, including several reviews for the International Olympic
Committee (IOC).


 


Neil has conducted numerous complex reviews for governments, such
as the ‘Layers of Aviation Security Review’ for the Australian
Government and several projects for the US State Department’s
Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program, including in the Middle East,
East Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. He has led IR security
teams delivering projects for several other governments including
Argentina, Brazil, Brunei, China, Colombia, France, Greece,
India, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UAE and the
UK. He has also advised on security planning for several
international political summits including APECs, ASEAN,
CHOGMs, G20s and NATO.


 


Neil has been directly involved in the response to over 50
international kidnap or forced detention cases. Most of IRs
work in this field is under contract to international
underwriters. Similarly the IR team are first responders for
international underwriters supporting insured entities affected
by product contamination and malicious product tampering events.


 


The International Olympic Committee bestowed the Award of the
Golden Olympic Rings on Neil for his contribution to the security
of Olympics and international sport. The Governor General of
Australia awarded Neil the Australian Sports Medal in 2022. He
was also awarded the Outstanding Security Professional Award
(OSPA) in 2022 as the leading Australian security consultant.