Olaf Hermes to become Chairman of the Board of BaySF

Hermes holds a degree in business and economics and has many years of management experience in the energy and utilities sector. During his career, he held positions at the RWE Group, Leipziger Stadtwerke, Regensburger Energie- und Wasserversorgung AG, as well as management roles at Stadtwerke Bremen/Bremerhaven and, most recently, at Stadtwerke Bonn. His work focused particularly on sales, marketing and the expansion of renewable energies.

Olaf Hermes’s predecessor, Martin Neumeyer, had led the Bavarian State Forests as Chairman of the Board since 2015, overseeing key areas such as timber and logistics, real estate, corporate communications and forestry technology. He was also responsible for 13 forestry operations.

The years Neumeyer was in office were largely characterized by managing widespread bark beetle infestation. He focused on proactive market balancing by strategically buffering volumes of damaged wood in order to reduce price pressure. With this approach, Bavaria played a leading role in forest protection.

Neumeyer also strategically advanced digitalization, among other things through the use of AI-supported control tools and the introduction of an online platform for high-value timber auctions.

Most recently, he was committed to preserving the sawmill in Plößberg.