Olivier Picard

Who Olivier Picard is

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 for this biography

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).
5. 5.Pharmacy funding for 2026-27: step in right direction but contract is broken, says NPA – Pharmacy Magazine — Evidences Picard publicly arguing that NHS pharmacy funding remains insufficient and calling for urgent reform of the pharmacy contract (May 2026).
6. 6.Contact Us | National Pharmacy Association — Confirms NPA press office email (press@npa.co.uk) and registered office address at Mallinson House, 40–42 St Peters Street, St Albans, AL1 3NP.
7. 7.National Pharmacy Association Limited – Companies House — Independently confirms NPA registered office address and postcode: Mallinson House, 40-42 St Peters Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3NP.

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 Olivier Picard has said

• “In a world where we are seeing the drug shortages that we are.. it is going to make matters worse. It's also going to stop innovation, whether we like it or not. The national formulary will restrict entry into the market, we're already seeing problems with medicines not being available in certain parts of the country.”

  Chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 4 Oct 2026 · National formulary will make shortages worse, suggests NPA chair ↗

• “warned that supplies of alternative medicines must be carefully managed”

  chair of the National Pharmacy Association · Adult social care & reform · 30 Sept 2026 · Huge warning extended to people taking blood pressure medication ↗

• “This joins a growing list of medicines that pharmacies are finding it hard to source for patients this year, including Ramipril, Aspirin, Co-codamol and Creon to name a few.”

  chair of the NPA · GP access · 29 Sept 2026 · Stomach acid tablet shortage expected to last until January ↗

• “"surges in prescriptions for particular products do have unintended short-term consequences for medicine supply to patients and can exacerbate medicine shortages that blight pharmacies on a daily basis."”

  Chair of the National Pharmacy Association · Women's health & gynaecology · 29 Sept 2026 · HRT Prescribing Doubles as Access Gaps Persist ↗

• “Commenting on the approval, Olivier Picard, chair of the National Pharmacy Association, described it as "significant", noting that it may provide an important option for those who cannot or would rather not use injections.”

  chair of the National Pharmacy Association · Diabetes · 10 Sept 2026 · Daily Wegovy tablet approved in UK ↗

• “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 ↗

• “Wasted medicines cost the NHS significant sums of money every year that could be invested in better services for patients. More than this, wasting medicines can have environmental and health consequences, and we can do much more to tackle this growing problem.”

  chair of the National Pharmacy Association · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Wasted medicine in England could fill 75 swimming pools a year, pharmacy group says ↗

• “These are alarming findings which show that comments made in the US are having a direct impact on patients in the UK and potentially deterring some from taking what are proven and safe medical treatments.”

  Chair of the National Pharmacy Association · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘Don’t trust Trump’: how UK health experts are fighting back against a war on medicine ↗

Recent social activity

• Everyone reading this will no doubt learn something about me they never knew!

  x.com ↗

• I’m fascinated by the fact that a white tablet stamped “FU2” almost certainly made it through Regulatory, QA, Manufacturing and Legal before everyone agreed “Looks good to me.” https://t.co/tzkx7ievY3

  x.com ↗

Where Olivier Picard has been quoted

1. ‘Bracing for the worst and hoping for the best’: Olivier Picard on the pharmacy contractthepharmacist.co.uk · 4 Oct 2026
2. National formulary will make shortages worse, suggests NPA chairpharmaceutical-journal.com · 4 Oct 2026
3. Huge warning extended to people taking blood pressure medicationexpress.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
4. Stomach acid tablet shortage expected to last until Januarynursinginpractice.com · 29 Sept 2026
5. HRT Prescribing Doubles as Access Gaps Persistmedscape.com · 29 Sept 2026
6. Daily Wegovy tablet approved in UKdiabetestimes.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
7. Patients face long journeys for medicines as pharmacies cut weekend hourstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
8. Kent meningitis outbreak prompts rush for routine vaccinations in Englandtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
9. NHS patients face worst drug shortages on record, say pharmacists and GPstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
10. Wasted medicine in England could fill 75 swimming pools a year, pharmacy group saystheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
11. ‘Don’t trust Trump’: how UK health experts are fighting back against a war on medicinetheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Leaders in Care Awards 2026 | Lifetime Achievement: Care Homes winner revealedHome Care Insight
• GP architect of neighbourhood health reforms to leave NHS EnglandPulse Today
• An important step forward in ending corridor care - Colin Poolman | Blog | RCN ScotlandRoyal College of Nursing

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.