The board of directors of Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday announced the appointment of Charles Holliday as its new chairman.

A statement from the Group said Mr. Holliday’s appointment takes immediate effect from the conclusion of the 2015 Annual General Meeting.

The company said however that the appointment was subject to his re-appointment as a Director of the Company by shareholders at the AGM.

Mr. Holliday will succeed Jorma Ollila who is stepping down from the Board with effect from the conclusion of the 2015 AGM having served as Chairman for nine years.

Mr. Holliday, who was appointed as a Non-executive Director of the Shell Group with effect from September 2010, is currently Chairman of the Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee and Member of the Remuneration Committee.

He was Chief Executive Officer of DuPont from 1998 to 2009, and Chairman from 1999 to 2009.

A member of the Board of Directors of Bank of America Corporation, Mr. Holliday had previously served as Chairman up until September 2014, and is also a Director of Deere & Company.

“I am delighted that the Board has appointed Charles Holliday to succeed me as Chairman,” the outgoing Chairman, Mr. Ollila, said of the appointment.

He described his successor as a personality with a distinguished track record as an international businessman who, he noted, he was sure he was the right person to chair the Board going forward after the 2015 AGM.

In accepting the appointment, Mr. Holliday said he was honoured to be appointed Chairman of the company, and looked forward to working with other members of the Board to deliver the Group’s strategy.