Olajumoke Adenowo is a Nigerian Architect, born on 16th October 1968. Her parents were professors, of whom one taught history and the other taught criminology. She used to live nearby Obafemi Awolowo University and gained interest in Architecture at a very young age. She pursued her BSc. and MSc. in Architecture in the same university. Over the years, she became a Chartered Architect, Academic Laureate, Philanthropist, Entrepreneur, Arbitrator, Author, and Radio Show Host. She is a philanthropist who runs various programmes in Nigeria promoting health education, business training and leadership skills.
Adenowo is a pioneer in leading her architecture business in Nigeria. She started her career with Towry Coker & Associates and Femi Majekodunmi Associates, where she designed the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja. This was her first project which she designed at the age of 23. The building has over a thousand federal offices in the Central Area of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. Later, She founded AD Consulting in 1994. AD Consulting is one of the leading Nigerian-based architecture and design firms that offers holistic developed Architecture with Master Planning, Brand Environment and interior architectural services with strong design skills. AD’s core Values are represented by Passion, Integrity, Excellence, Creativity, Distinction. Every minute detail is given preference by interior designers at AD Consulting. AD Consulting has received an honour of Nigeria’s most internationally awarded architectural firm in 1994, and is the only Nigerian firm nominated or recommended by the British Chamber of Commerce to provide architectural services.
She is also the founder of Awesome Treasures Foundation (1999) and an Oil and Gas services firm, Advantage Energy. Awesome Treasures is a non-governmental organisation recognized by the United Nations that has empowered over 11,000 women. Advantage Energy is a corporate focused growth-oriented company signifying its position in the Montney natural gas and liquids resource play.
Adenowo has built notable projects that have gained recognition both locally and internationally. Some of her remarkable projects include Federal Ministry of Finance Abuja, the Tent Church in Calabar, Abuja Film City, Coca Cola Cafe, O.A.U Senate Building, Nigerian Stock Exchange building, the Heritage Bank Headquarters, the Ekiti State Liaison Office and many more. Her company serves multinational clients like Coca-Cola International, L’Oreal, NGC (Hoechst), CRI, Addax Oil, Stanbic IBTC PLC, GTBank, Access Bank May and Baker PLC etc.
Adenowo was appointed as a Visiting Professor at Technische Universität München (Germany) in 2019. She was honoured as a Laureate and a Guest Scientist at the Chair of Theory. She has also been recognised for her insightful speech on Architecture, the Arts, Leadership, Youth and Women’s Empowerment. She has given speeches at the McKenzie Executive leadership platform, Harvard Business School (African Business Club), the Global Women’s Forum, the Institute of Directors, Cambridge University African Society and many other platforms. She is a well known author, broadcaster and public speaker, who has empowered many people around her.
She has authored some insightful books like Neo Heritage -Defining Contemporary African Architecture, Beyond My Dreams, Ruth : Strategic Wisdom to Overcome the Impossible, Designed for Marriage, The Mysterious Seed : the powerful Secrets of Financial Increase, Lifespring: The Mother’s Prayer manual, Appointment with Destiny, Tamar : Destiny Attained Against all Odds and many more.
Adenowo has received multiple awards and accolades for her achievements that include Forbes Woman Africa Entrepreneur of the Year 2020, New African Woman in Business Award, Africa’s Most Inspiring Business Woman by Africa Economic Builders (2018), Most inspirational women in architecture by Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), nominated as the West African Business Woman Of The Year Award category at the CNBC All Africa Business Leaders Awards. She was described as the “Africa’s Starchitect” by CNN and “the face of Architecture in Nigeria” by the Guardian (Nigeria). Recently, she has been listed in the Forbes 50/50 Europe, Middle East and Asia, 2024.