Özlem Mertoğlu graduated from T.E.D. Ankara College and from Public Administration and International Relations in Middle East Technical University. She also holds Business Law certificate from De Montfort University-Leicester-UK.
Started her carrier with part-time projects in UNFPA, FAO in United Nations, T.R.T. and Ministry of Tourism.
She started her banking career in 1987 and worked as high level executive in Interbank, Impexbank, HSBC and Körfezbank in the areas of Corporate Banking, Project Finance, Private Banking, Privatization, Build-Operate-Transfer projects, tax restructuring, financial and operative ‘cross border’ formation that are subject to various legal regulations such as Turkey, the UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, BVI, Bahrain.
In 1999, she settled in the Netherlands as Founding Managing Director of Dışbank Nederland NV.. In 2004, following the acquisition by Fortis Bank N.V., Ozlem ended her 18-years of successful banking tenure. In 2016 she sold her company Affiance Management B.V., a licensed ‘trust office’ under the supervision of the Central Bank of the Netherland providing management and operational services to companies operating internationally, to TMF Netherlands B.V., the largest in the world and the Netherlands operating on the same field. Özlem continued to work as a senior executive at the same company until 2018, managing the Global Operational Services Department.
She continues to provide professional advisory services in management and finance besides performing investments in start-up companies in Netherlands and Turkey.
Özlem has been involved in executive consultancy and instructor activities of Era Egitim & Danismanlik on customer relations, change management, negotiation, behavioural approaches, increasing personal and corporate potential and participated in a number of international programs. In this context, she completed “Train the Trainer for Laughter Yoga” program by Dr. Madan Kataria in May 2009 in Switzerland and started programs in Turkey.
Ozlem is married and mother of one child.