Oliver E. Jones has enjoyed the sort of career thus far that, in this era of wavering and instability, can only be described as extraordinary. Over the past five decades, Mr. Jones has risen through the ranks of life insurance, beginning as a salesman with Manufacturers Life in 1953 to his current position as Chairman of Zenith Insurance Brokers. He has served as President of the Jamaica Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (JAIFA) as well as the Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ).
In addition, Mr. Jones spearheaded the information of the Island Life Insurance Company, thereby acquiring the Manulife portfolio in Jamaica and absorbing the Dominion Life’s Jamaica operations into Island Life for which he served as President and CEO as well as Chairman of the Board. With all of these accolades, it is easy to understand why he was JAIFA’s first joint-selectee for that Association’s Man of the Year Award in 1973 and more recently, the Jamaica Institute of Management’s Most Outstanding Manager of the Year Award in 1993. But his accomplishments have been hard-won and accompanied by a fair share of setbacks, which were always met with deep rooted tenacity and conviction. “There are no big problems in the world”, Mr. Jones has said, “only an amalgam of micro problems left uncared for. The key is to deal with issues, no matter their size, as soon as they happen.”
Mr. Jones has also shown great success outside the world of insurance as chairman of both the Banana Company of Jamaica (1978 to 1980) and the National Housing Trust (1980 to 1989). But perhaps more important to this profile of a man who has weathered some of the life insurance industry’s stormiest years are the forces that lie behind his incredible success. Among them, you’ll find the traits that usually mark the world’s most successful individuals: integrity, discipline, drive, and an ability to take control of the present while always managing to look ahead to the future. Of no little help were his humble beginnings as one of twelve children in a small St. Elizabeth district. Some would say that it was there that his trademark qualities of determination and persistence took root and also where his career as a salesman really began- selling his own garlic and tomatoes to local markets (the profits from which he used to pay for his first term at Excelsior High School in Kingston). But none of these can compare to what Oliver Jones points to as his greatest source of pride. That is his family-his wife, Sonia and two sons, Stewart and Lawrence. “When I started out in this business, it was to reach the top of my career”, says Mr. Jones. “That was my only focus until my children came. Whatever happens to me will never be as important as the future of my children.”
With every position that he has held, including those of President of Excelsior’s Old Student Association and the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Kingston, Jones has acted in a way that would make his family proud. And their achievements, in turn, have been his greatest pride.
So to look at Oliver E. Jones is not to look at a recipient of the National Honour of Commander of Distinction (CD) or even someone who has spent a great portion of his life dedicated to public service. One needs to see him the way he has come to see himself: as a father, son, husband and friend. For him, the person that he is in his family life and business life are inseparable. His achievements and continued success is not a solo project – no true success story ever is.
