Why Olga Polizzi is in the Design 100

Olga Polizzi has shaped the design identity of Rocco Forte Hotels since her brother, Sir Rocco Forte, founded the company in 1996 and invited her to lead its design direction. As Director of Design and Deputy Chairman, she has set the interiors of hotels including Brown’s in London, Hotel de Russie in Rome and Hotel Astoria in St Petersburg, developing a distinct look for each address within the wider group.

That role builds on a design education begun decades earlier in the studio of Forte Hotels, the business her father, Lord Charles Forte, built into one of the world’s largest hotel and catering groups. Polizzi has also developed two hotels of her own, Tresanton on the Cornish coast and Endsleigh in Devon, run independently of the Rocco Forte portfolio she oversees for her brother’s company.