Olivier PicardSector leader

Biography

Olivier Picard is Chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the UK trade body representing approximately 6,000 independent community pharmacies. He trained as a pharmacist in France and has spent most of his working life in the UK, working in community pharmacy for more than 20 years. After serving as an area manager at Moss Pharmacy, he founded Newdays Pharmacy Ltd in 2006, which operates four community pharmacies in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. He is also an NPA representative on Community Pharmacy England and has served on the Community Pharmacy Thames Valley committee. He is known for publicly arguing that NHS funding for community pharmacy falls far short of what is needed, warning of pharmacy closures, rising drug costs, and the underuse of pharmacists' clinical skills within the NHS.

References

1. 1.NPA Board | National Pharmacy Association — Confirms Olivier Picard as NPA Chair; outlines his background as a community pharmacist trained in France, his role at Moss Pharmacy, and founding of Newdays Pharmacy in 2006.
2. 2.NPA elects new chair and first female vice-chair – Pharmacy Magazine — Confirms Picard's appointment as NPA Chair in April 2025, his prior role as vice-chair, and his community pharmacy background of more than 20 years.
3. 3.Olivier Picard, Chair, National Pharmacy Association – Cogora CPGP Conference — Confirms the 2022 Pharmacy Business of the Year award, the Marlow Covid-19 vaccination centre, and Newdays Pharmacy operations.
4. 4.National formulary will make shortages worse, suggests NPA chair – The Pharmaceutical Journal — Evidences Picard quoted in specialist press on medicine shortages and the risks of a single national formulary (June 2026).

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
• Learning disability & autism

Stated areas of expertise

• Community pharmacy funding
• NHS contract negotiations
• Medicine supply and drug pricing
• Provider sustainability
• Pharmacy First and independent prescribing
• Community pharmacy workforce

Notable achievements

• Appointed Chair of the National Pharmacy Association in April 2025, succeeding Nick Kaye after serving two years as NPA vice-chair. Source ↗
• Awarded Pharmacy Business of the Year at the 2022 Pharmacy Business Awards. Source ↗
• Led the establishment of a Covid-19 vaccination centre in Marlow, Buckinghamshire (2021–2023), set up in five weeks, which became one of the largest pharmacy-led vaccination sites in the UK and ranked in the national top 10 throughout its operation. Source ↗
• Founded Newdays Pharmacy Ltd in 2006, which now operates four community pharmacies across Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “This is yet more evidence that the pharmacy network in England is creaking at the seams after facing deep cuts over a number of years. Sadly the real losers are the millions of patients these pharmacies serve, particularly those in rural areas, who are forced to travel long distances or even go to hospital if they need a prescription or advice for a minor health issue on a Sunday or late at night.”

  Chief Executive of the National Pharmacy Association · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Patients face long journeys for medicines as pharmacies cut weekend hours ↗

• “Although this has largely been for MenB vaccinations, we've also seen a significant uptick in demand for MenACWY among teenagers who have missed out on their initial vaccine from the NHS. An unintentional but encouraging consequence of this outbreak is that more patients and their parents are looking into their vaccine records to catch up on those that they have missed.”

  Chair of the National Pharmacy Association · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Kent meningitis outbreak prompts rush for routine vaccinations in England ↗

• “Medicine shortages are becoming more frequent, lasting longer and causing increasing disruption for patients. These shortages are some of the most severe the UK has experienced. It is deeply distressing to find patients who have travelled from pharmacy to pharmacy to find the medicines they need without success.”

  pharmacist and chair of the National Pharmacy Association · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS patients face worst drug shortages on record, say pharmacists and GPs ↗

Source references

1. Patients face long journeys for medicines as pharmacies cut weekend hourstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. Kent meningitis outbreak prompts rush for routine vaccinations in Englandtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. NHS patients face worst drug shortages on record, say pharmacists and GPstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. Wasted medicine in England could fill 75 swimming pools a year, pharmacy group saystheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
5. ‘Don’t trust Trump’: how UK health experts are fighting back against a war on medicine

Contact & links

• Xhttps://x.com/olivierpicardukpublished here ↗
• Staff pagehttps://www.npa.co.uk/about/npa-board/
• Press office emailpress@npa.co.ukpublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.