Ornella Barra

Ornella Barra
Ornella Barra, 2008
Born	December 1953 (1953-12) (age 63) Chiavari, Genoa, Italy
Residence	Monaco
Nationality	Monegasque
Alma mater	University of Genoa
Title	Co-chief operating officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance
Partner(s)	Stefano Pessina
Website	www.ornellabarra.com

Ornella Barra (born December 1953) is an Italian-born Monegasque businesswoman. A qualified pharmacist, she has been involved in the healthcare industry for her entire career, and is co-chief operating officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Within Walgreens Boots Alliance, Barra oversees International Retail, which is part of the Retail Pharmacy International Division, as well as directing the Pharmaceutical Wholesale Division. She has been the partner of the Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina for over 30 years. Ornella was ranked 10th in Fortune Magazine’s 2016 most powerful women in business for female executives based outside of the United States.

Ornella Barra was born in December 1953 in Chiavari, Genoa, northwest Italy, into a family of entrepreneurs. Having graduated as a pharmacist from the University of Genoa in 1979, she worked at the start of her career as a manager of a pharmacy which she then acquired. After building up a regional pharmaceutical distribution company, Di Pharma, she later sold the business to Alleanza Farmaceutica, founded and managed by Italian entrepreneur Stefano Pessina, which later grew to become Italy's leading pharmaceutical wholesaler. He and Barra became partners in both personally and professionally, sharing a house in Monaco.

Barra is co-chief operating officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Walgreens Boots Alliance was created through the combination of Walgreens and Alliance Boots in December 2014.

The Pharmaceutical Wholesale Division is present in 19 countries and supplies more than 180,000 pharmacies, doctors, health centres and hospitals from 340 distribution centres. Moreover, it supports a large network of independent pharmacies and operates a number of owned pharmacies. Barra also oversees International Retail, which includes main business units (Thailand, Norway, The Netherlands, Mexico and Chile), as well as China and The Gulf.

In 1984, Barra founded a pharmaceutical distribution company in Italy and was made managing director two years later, the same year the company was acquired by Alleanza Salute Italia (now Alliance Healthcare Italia). During this time, Barra also contributed to the creation of Alliance Santé, the Franco-Italian group with interests spanning Europe, and was made Board member in 1990. Following Alliance Santé's merger with UniChem in 1997, she then went on to become a Board member and Executive Director of Alliance Unichem.