Ben Verwaayen joined BT on 14 January 2002 as Chief Executive.

Ben was born in February 1952. He is a Dutch national and graduated with a Master's degree in law and international politics from the State University of Utrecht, Holland.

Before joining BT Group, since October 1997, Ben had been with Lucent Technologies Inc.. His position on leaving was Vice Chairman of the Management Board. Before this, Ben was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and before this, Executive Vice President, International.

Prior to Lucent, Ben was with Koninklijke PTT Nederland or KPN as it is more commonly known. From 1988 to 1997, Ben was President and Managing Director of KPN's PTT Telecom.

From 1996 to mid-1997, Ben was Chairman of the Unisource European venture with Telia, Swisscom and Telefonica, and Chairman of AT&T/Unisource.

Between 1975 and 1988, Ben was with ITT Nederland BV. He had become General Manager after enjoying a series of positions in business development, HR and public relations.

Ben is a member of the Advisory Council of ING.