Oliverland Consulting
Procurement Policy – Occupational Footwear Fit Education – ROI
About
About Oliverland Consulting
Oliverland Consulting was created from a long professional observation: many footwear problems are not caused by poor intent, but by a persistent gap between the shape of the foot, the design of the shoe, and the decisions organisations make around fitting and supply. Over time, that gap became impossible to ignore — first through hands-on work across the footwear industry, and later through applied doctoral research focused on occupational footwear fit and injury risk.
Dr. Wing Fa Oliver Chan
Footwear Fit Consultant | Applied Researcher | Founder, Oliverland Consulting
Dr. Wing Fa Oliver Chan has worked across multiple sides of the footwear world, from product development and factory production to trading, retail, brand support, and academic research. That unusual combination of experience shapes the perspective behind Oliverland Consulting: practical, cross-functional, and grounded in what happens both on the ground and inside organisations.
What makes this work distinctive is not only expertise in footwear itself, but the ability to connect areas that usually remain separate — foot health, product design, user experience, and organisational decision-making. Oliverland Consulting was built around that intersection.
Where The Work Began
The roots of this work were personal before they became academic. While living in France as a full-time mother, Oliver became increasingly interested in how footwear affects the developing foot, especially when suitable options were difficult to find. In 2008, she created Bgreen, an eco-friendly indoor shoe for children designed with ergonomic intent, years before later formal study in biomechanics and fit-related injury mechanisms.
A second turning point came through concern about the daily footwear demands placed on military personnel. That concern developed into doctoral research examining how ill-fitting boots, especially width-related mismatch, can contribute to pain, instability, and chronic physical problems over time. The result was not a shift away from industry, but a clearer direction within it.
A Career Across The Whole Chain
Oliver’s career began in Hong Kong in footwear buying and product coordination, including work connected to licensed collections for the Walt Disney brand. She later spent time inside shoe production, co-ran a footwear trading company, managed sample development, worked with lasts and outsoles, and participated in international trade activity. In France, her experience extended into startup support, consumer sales, and direct observation of how often people seek quality footwear yet still struggle to obtain a proper fit.
This breadth matters because footwear fit problems rarely belong to one department alone. They sit across design assumptions, manufacturing choices, retail habits, procurement constraints, and user behaviour. Oliverland Consulting exists to bring those pieces into the same conversation.
Research With Practical Intent
Dr. Chan’s DBA at FEDE Paris, completed with Mention Très Honorable, focused on the impact of ill-fitting military boots on ankle sprains and chronic problems among French infantry soldiers. The work included field surveys, expert interviews, and an extensive review of published literature. It also led to the development of an original biomechanical causation model now being prepared for academic publication.
The research supports a simple but important idea: footwear fit is not a minor comfort issue. In demanding environments, it can shape movement quality, physical tolerance, and injury exposure in ways that deserve closer attention. Oliverland Consulting carries that research forward in an applied form, translating insight into clearer understanding for organisations and professionals.
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The goal is to move organisations from not knowing what they don’t know — to knowing what they don’t know.
That first step of awareness is where all meaningful change begins.
What Oliverland Consulting Stands For
Oliverland Consulting is founded on the belief that better footwear decisions begin with better understanding. Before organisations can improve outcomes, they often need a clearer picture of what has been overlooked, what assumptions are shaping current practice, and where fit-related issues may actually begin.
The purpose of the consultancy is therefore not only to advise, but also to clarify. It brings together industry knowledge, applied research, and field-informed reasoning to help make footwear fit a subject that can be understood more accurately and addressed more intelligently.
Education
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DBA, FEDE Paris, 2022–2025, Mention Très Honorable.
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EMBA, Digital Strategy & E-Business, ESG Executive Paris, 2019–2021.
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Bachelor, European International Marketing, Énaco, France, 2018–2019.
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Languages: French, English, Cantonese (native), Mandarin.
Ready to Start a Conversation?
If your organisation is beginning to question whether footwear fit may be affecting comfort, health, or day-to-day functioning more than expected, Oliverland Consulting welcomes the conversation.