Our People

Darren Rice

Interim Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director

Darren Rice has a proven track record of success in the UK private sector, most notably in the IT sector where he was the founder and Managing Director of the UK's leading supplier of IT systems and services to the retail consumer electronics industry.

Having immigrated to Australia in 2005 Darren became a shareholder of Apex in 2007 and was appointed Interim CEO in November 2009. Darren brings a broad skill set across many business disciplines to Apex and is presently exploring a number of opportunities to take the business forward.

Stephen O'Keefe

Non-executive Director

Stephen currently holds multiple directorships in a variety of businesses. He is also a Senior Director of PKF Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors. Stephen has twenty five years of experience in the Chartered Accountancy Profession. He holds a Bachelor of Business Degree, is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Fellow member of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants, a Fellow Member of the Taxation Institute of Australia, a Registered Company Auditor and a Registered Tax Agent.

John Wheeler

Non-executive Director

John, since graduating with a degree in Construction Management, worked with one of Australia’s leading Building Companies, before establishing his own firm in 1993. In 1998, he amalgamated with WH Stokes and Sons to form Stokes Wheeler Pty Ltd, a Commercial Construction Company based in South East Queensland. As Co-Managing Director of Stokes Wheeler Pty Ltd, John has guided the business through more than 1000 successful projects, valued in the hundreds of millions, operating as far North as Cairns and down into Northern NSW. Under his stewardship the business has grown and prospered, now employing more than 50 staff, with an annual turnover in excess of $50 million.

 Through the diligence of both directors Stokes Wheeler enjoys the reputation and standing in the Industry as a leader in their professionalism and continued ability to deliver quality projects for their clients.

 John also holds multiple director ships in a variety of other businesses, and offers the share holders of Apex his wealth of experience and acumen.

John O'Shannassy

Company Secretary

John is a legal practitioner with the Lloyd Hart Group. His specialist areas are corporate law, intellectual property law, commercial law, corporate governance and company secretarial duties. John teaches and researches in the areas of Corporate Law, Securities Law and Corporate Insolvency Law, at the College of Law (Sydney).

John is a solicitor and a barrister of the High Court of Australia and Supreme Court of NSW and is a Notary Public.

John holds a Bachelor of Science (Elect Eng), a Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Accounting & Computing, Masters degrees in Law and education and a Graduate Diploma of Company Secretarial Practice.

John is a member of Chartered Secretaries Australia, the Law Society of NSW, the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association, the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand, the Licensing Executive Society - Australia and New Zealand and the NSW Society for Computers and the Law.

Chris Rogers

Chief Operating Officer

Chris is an experienced mining engineer with more than 25 years of mining experience in the UK and Australia. Chris is a European Engineer (Eur Ing) and a Chartered Professional Engineer (C.Eng) with both a mechanical engineering and a mining engineering background. Chris holds a First Class Mine Managers Certificate of Competency for Queensland, New South Wales and the UK and is also a qualified coal mine Ventilation Engineer after completing studies at the University of New South Wales.

Chris has operated in various senior roles in the UK and Australia from Gas Drainage Engineer, Ventilation Officer, and Undermanager through to Mine Manager and has worked in and managed some of Australia's gassiest and most hazardous mines. Chris has also operated as the General Manager of a large mining services and underground directional drilling company prior to joining Apex Energy NL in July 2008. Chris is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Chris Lawrence

Corporate Development Manager

Chris has an extensive financial and projects related background having held senior roles in several prominent Institutions in Funds Management, Structured and Project Finance for over 20 years. More recently Chris has been involved in building a number of businesses and projects in Australia, through Asia and Africa which were primarily infrastructure and resources based.

Chris is a Fellow of the Securities Institute of Australia and attended University of NSW in Applied Science (Economics).