Who owns Olay?
Olay is owned by Procter & Gamble (the United States, NYSE: PG).[1]
Evidence: The Procter & Gamble Company Form 10-K for fiscal 2026, note 15 - subsequent events, SEC EDGAR. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- The Procter & Gamble Company verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- Founded
- 1952
- Category
- Personal care & beauty › Skin care › Facial skin care
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: PG
- Trademark registrant
- PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY, THE (USPTO)
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About Olay
Olay began in South Africa in 1952 as Oil of Olay, a pink moisturiser developed by a chemist for his wife and sold with deliberately vague advertising that never described what it was. Procter & Gamble acquired it with Richardson-Vicks in 1985 and it is sold under variations of the name worldwide.
What Procter & Gamble's annual report says about Olay
Sentences about Olay from Procter & Gamble's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
In skin care, the Olay brand is one of the top facial skin care brands in the world with about 5% global market share.
How often Procter & Gamble names Olay in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central.
Trademark record for Olay
The USPTO record for the Olay mark lists PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY, THE as the owner of record (serial number 73190792). That name matches the owner named above.[2]
Ownership timeline of Olay
- Current owner Procter & Gamble [1] verified
Where Olay sits in Procter & Gamble
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Procter & Gamble ownership tree →
See the full Procter & Gamble brand portfolio (38) →
Other brands owned by Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble controls 38 brands on Brandtree, 23 of them in personal care & beauty.
Also in personal care & beauty
- Always (1983)
- Bounty (1965)
- Braun (1921)
- Charmin (1928)
- Crest (1955)
- Gillette (1901)
- Head & Shoulders (1961)
- Herbal Essences (1971)
- Ivory (1879)
- Luvs (1976)
- Native (2015)
- Old Spice (1937)
- Oral-B (1950)
- Pampers (1961)
- Pantene (1945)
- Puffs (1960)
- Safeguard (1963)
- Secret (1956)
Founded in the 1950s
Other brands in facial skin care, and who owns them
The 76 brands in facial skin care on Brandtree belong to 38 owners. The largest is POLA ORBIS, with 6; Procter & Gamble has 2.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| DECENCIA | POLA ORBIS | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Clinique | Estée Lauder | 🇺🇸 United States |
| ANYA | Proya | 🇨🇳 China |
| COSRX | Amorepacific | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
| Clé de Peau Beauté | Shiseido | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Paula's Choice | Unilever | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| ALBION | KOSÉ | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| O HUI | LG H&H | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
About the owner: Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a publicly listed company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, founded in 1837. Brandtree records 38 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: PG.
Procter & Gamble was founded in Cincinnati in 1837 by a candle maker and a soap maker who had married sisters. It deliberately narrowed to around 65 brands in the mid-2010s, selling roughly a hundred others, and now reports through fabric and home care, baby and feminine care, beauty, health care and grooming.
Procter & Gamble: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇿🇦 Olay and other South African brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 175 brands that began in South Africa. 12 of them (7%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Olay among them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Olay?
The parent company of Olay is Procter & Gamble, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Olay South African or American?
Olay originated in South Africa in 1952, but it is owned today by Procter & Gamble, which is headquartered in the United States. So Olay is a South African-origin brand under American ownership.
Is Olay still owned by Procter & Gamble?
Yes. As of 8 October 2026, Olay is still owned by Procter & Gamble. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (2) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] The Procter & Gamble Company Form 10-K for fiscal 2026, note 15 - subsequent events — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K; retrieved 16 September 2026.
- [2] USPTO: OLAY, serial 73190792, registration 1130648 — United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark registry; retrieved 25 September 2026.
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