Media

Maurice Olley was a high-ranking General Motors engineer and executive. During his career, he was regarded as one of the foremost experts on suspension systems.

Born June 12, 1889 in Scarborough, England, Olley attended the Birmingham Technical School and the University of Manchester in England. He was a tool designer for H. W. Ward & Company, Limited. in Birmingham and was with Rolls Royce Limited. from 1912 to 1917 where he served as a designer on the personal staff of Sir F. Henry Royce.

Olley moved to the United States in 1917 to take charge of aircraft engine production for Rolls Royce in New York and Cleveland. He was later promoted to Chief Engineer for Rolls Royce in America at Springfield, Massachusetts.

In 1930, Olley joined the Cadillac Motor Car Division of General Motors in Detroit as a special problems engineer. His services were so much in demand that, in 1934, he was given a specially created position in the General Motors Corporation as engineer in charge of the Product Study Department. During the period from 1930 until 1937, Olley was responsible in a large measure for the design of various independent suspension systems and their introduction on American cars, and for the development of the modern ideas of ride and handling, including the initiation of dynamic tire testing.

Olley returned to Europe in 1937 as passenger vehicle engineer with Vauxhall Motors Limited, the General Motors subsidiary in England. He was given leave of absence in 1939 to act as U.S. engineering representative on aircraft engines for Rolls Royce, supervising the manufacture of Rolls Royce parts and the start of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine production at the Packard plant.

During the latter part of World War II, he served as an advisor to the British Ministry of Supply. Following the war, Olley returned to Vauxhall Motors, where he assumed positions of increasing responsibility, the last of which was engineering consultant.

In 1952, the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors named Olley Director of Research and Development and Special Assistant to the Chief Engineer in charge of suspension development. He held these positions until his retirement on December 31, 1955.

Maurice Olley's engineering work at General Motors resulted in over 40 U.S. and Canadian patents, and he was the author of numerous technical papers. He has twice been awarded the Crompton Medal, the highest award of the Institution of Automobile Engineers.

Tag Cloud

English