Olivier Cadic
Senator for French Citizens Abroad,
France
Olivier Cadic has been Senator for French Citizens Abroad since 2014, re-elected in 2021. He currently serves as Vice President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces, President of the France–Gulf States Interparliamentary Friendship Group, and Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). He is also Vice President of the Study Groups on Francophonie and on French Citizens Abroad, member of the Study Group on Veterans and Remembrance, and President of ANEFE. In addition, he sits on the boards of AFD, AEFE, Institut Français, and Worldskills Lyon 2024, and on the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum.
Born in 1962, he became an entrepreneur at the age of 20, founding the electronics company Info Elec, later transferred to the UK. He created the association La France libre d’entreprendre to support French entrepreneurs abroad, and went on to launch an online marketplace for printed circuits and a publishing company that promoted Franco-Belgian comics in English. His career as an entrepreneur and publisher established him as a prominent advocate for innovation and cultural promotion.
Elected as a representative of French citizens in the UK in 2006, he was awarded the National Order of Merit in 2011. In 2012, he co-founded the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) before being elected senator for French citizens abroad in 2014.
As senator, Olivier Cadic has conducted more than 500 missions across 114 countries and is engaged in over 60 interparliamentary friendship groups. He chaired the France–Luxembourg group, the France–North Korea contact group, and, since 2020, the France–Gulf States group. He was Vice President of the Senate’s Business Delegation (2014–2020), reporting on entrepreneurship, competitiveness, and Brexit. He has also contributed to laws improving the daily lives of French citizens abroad, including agreements on transport and driver’s license recognition.
A recognized expert on cybersecurity and cyber defense, he has been rapporteur since 2017 on related budget credits and authored several reports, notably on disinformation and cyberattacks. His initiatives have inspired key government measures: creation of a cyber offensive force, a cyber response unit against information warfare, the future “17 cyber” emergency number, and the inclusion of the fight against fake news in the Military Programming Law. In 2024, after being targeted by Chinese hackers (APT31), he called for an international cyber deterrence force.
He was also vice president of the 2023–24 parliamentary inquiry into drug trafficking, taking part in field operations in Bolivia. Since 2021, he has presided over ANEFE, aligning with the national goal of doubling the number of students in the French education network by 2030.