Olivier Long

Who was Olivier Long?

Olivier Long was a Swiss Ambassador and the director-general of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade from May 6, 1968 to October 1, 1980.

Mr. Long was born at Petit-Veyrier, Switzerland, near Geneva, on Oct. 11, 1915. Besides having studied in London and Harvard, he had a Doctor of Laws from the University of Paris and Doctor of Political Science from the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International Studies. After military service in 1939-43, he joined the International Committee of the Red Cross and traveled across wartime Europe, negotiating prisoner-of-war exchanges and food relief assistance. After the war, he joined the Swiss federal government, and after service in Washington and London he began to work on trade issues as the director general of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Mr. Long helped keep the Western world moving toward freer trade in the 1970s despite protectionist pressures brought on by soaring oil prices, inflation and recession.

As director general of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade from 1968 to 1980, Mr. Long helped to bring about the largest reductions in tariffs since World War II. GATT, an organization based in Geneva, was created in 1948 to oversee international trade.