Prof. Dr. Mark Oelmann

Prof. Dr Mark Oelmann has been Professor of Energy and Water Economics and Programme Director of the Bachelor’s degree programme in Business Administration – Energy and Water Management at the public Hochschule Ruhr West in Mülheim an der Ruhr since 2011. A diverse collaboration—such as in dual study programmes—with companies and service providers in the energy and water sectors is an integral part of the concept. Additionally, he is spokesperson for HRW’s first interdisciplinary research focus, “Water Economics and Water Management,” and co-founder and co-managing director of two spin-off consulting companies originating from HRW: MOcons and MOcons Analytics.

Mark Oelmann studied Economics and Ethnology in a dual degree programme at Philipps University Marburg and Pennsylvania State University. He completed his doctorate under Prof. Dr Juergen B. Donges, long-time chairman of the “Five Economic Experts,” with a dissertation titled “On the Reorientation of Price and Quality Regulation in the German Water Sector.” This work was awarded the Ehrhardt-Imelmann Research Prize by the University of Cologne. He has gained practical experience over 25 years in the water sector and related network industries. His career includes positions in investment banking at Deutsche Bank AG and as Managing Consultant at the internationally renowned management consultancy Capgemini Consulting. As Head of Department at the Scientific Institute for Infrastructure and Communication Services (WIK) GmbH in Bad Honnef, he focused on supporting German water and wastewater companies with strategic corporate issues and network regulation questions in electricity and gas. Over the past 15 years, price and tariff model reforms, a wide range of strategic issues, and projects related to AI/data management and time series data in water and wastewater management, as well as digitalisation, have gained particular importance.

A second focus of his work is in emerging and developing countries. Internationally, Mark Oelmann has been active for many years in countries such as Albania, Egypt, China, Iran, Indonesia, Yemen, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Zambia, and Uganda. He remains active in the expert pool of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and is regularly consulted. He also works with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research on international water issues—most recently on water and agriculture in Pakistan. In 2024, he conducted a three-month research stay on “Water Scarcity and Demand-Side Solution Challenges” at the University of Cape Town.

Since 1998, Prof. Dr Mark Oelmann has contributed to integrating the economic perspective into water management thinking. In addition to numerous publications and presentations on water economics, data utilisation, and expert assessments, he has served as a water and wastewater expert for the German Bundestag and state parliaments as a consultant. He was the only non-British member of the “Advisory Panel on Future Regulation” of the UK water regulator OFWAT for over four years. He is a member of the jury for the Mülheim Water Awards, co-organiser of the Mülheim Water Economics Conference, chair of the advisory board of the Competence Centre for Digital Water Management, and a member of various working groups and specialist committees, such as those of BDEW, DWA, and federal and state ministries. Voluntarily, he remains closely connected to water issues through initiatives like “Hiking for Water” and as a member of the supervisory board of Kindernothilfe. Last but not least, he is actively involved with e-combinator, a voluntary network of experienced energy managers, industry experts, and business angels committed to supporting start-ups in building a more sustainable energy future.

Information on research and development projects (digitalisation of water) and about Prof. Dr Mark Oelmann can also be found in the ‘HRW Podcast, der Wissen schafft’ and the ‘Glasklar’ podcast by Gelsenwasser AG.