Oliver Wyman is one of the smaller Tier 2 firms in the Australian consulting landscape, with only a Sydney office running its operations. As far as reputation goes, Oliver Wyman is a respected name in the consulting circles despite going through a series of brand chances over the past few decades. The firm was established in New York in 1984 and established its brand through flexing their expertise in risk management and financial services. Since then, Oliver Wyman has evolved to the more generalist consulting practice that we know today.

Commensurate with its size, Oliver Wyman also has a small firm culture, where everyone knows each other against the backdrop of a fairly flat structure. This means that people will not only be invested in your career, but they might take an interest in you personal life (within reason!) too. 

Due to the smaller intake of employees, Oliver Wyman places an emphasis on employee retention and development, with a motivation to place people on the partner track. All in all, this is a firm that gives off a boutique vibe but exudes the prestige of a global name.

You can be sure that you will do a lot of financial services and risk work, given that is what Oliver Wyman have carved out a niche in. Major projects might mean working with banking and insurance clients, of which the firm has plenty. 

Other than this, Oliver Wyman also has been branching out into technology/data work, which is a big vector that the firm has been investing in. In fact, one of its more unique offerings is its aerospace consulting service, which might interest those Elon fans out there. If you’re looking for deals however, you might be disappointed, as there are better places to go for this (e.g. LEK).

The pay here is competitive but not anything that will blow you out of the water, and it is certainly short of what they pay for MBB. For that cash, you will typically be working 55-65 hours a week, which at the end of the day, is not atypical for a consulting firm like Oliver Wyman. 

So if you’re interested in the type of work that this shop racks up, then the pay and hours should not be too painful a pill to swallow. After all, if you ever decide to hang up your boots, you will have a solid network of close colleagues with invaluable experience working under an elite brand.