Photo provided to China Daily

Raised around horses

Olver experienced that firsthand as a child. The grandson of a Spitfire ace and the son of an expatriate who worked for the Swire family of companies, young Ed found himself in the saddle for the first time at the age of 5 while living in Hong Kong. His father's career included postings all over Southeast Asia as well as Australia, the US, Italy and Switzerland, giving his young son a stimulating taste of the world.

"I was in boarding school in the UK from the age of 7," he says, and that gave him a dual sense of identity from an early age. His precise speech exudes the tradition and strength of a British education, but his eyes light up as he describes the dynamic, cando culture of life overseas.

"The Chinese are so energetic, dynamic and engaged in life," he says. "You can see it every day just by going to the park, where people are doing tai chi and dancing every day. Nobody is just sitting around here."

In business, he says, the Chinese have a reputation for being hard to deal with, but the well-traveled Olver begs to disagree.

"Relationships can be more volatile because more trust is needed," he says, noting that it's easy for culture and language barriers to get in the way. Today, he uses his varied experiences to build and create trust in relationships across borders.

British Polo Day has been a perfect vehicle.

China's newly affluent consumers have been eager for a taste of luxury, and Olver says at first the British lagged behind in reaching out to that market.

"The French and Italians were quick and clever to bring their goods to the mass market," he says. "Britain was slower, but over time that became an advantage."