Ollie Couillaud replaces Paul Bates at Hilton London Bankside

Ollie Couillaud has been appointed executive head chef at the Hilton London Bankside to oversee the hotel's 168-cover OXBO Bankside restaurant.

He replaces Paul Bates, who left the 292-bedroom property on 2 January to join the JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel as executive chef, himself replacing Nigel Boschetti who has gone Stateside to one of New York's largest hotels, the Marriott Marquis.

French-born Couillaud joins the hotel from the Corner restaurant at Selfridges in London after three years and has also run his own chef consultancy business, Sunshine Food Concepts, since 2010, designed to provide private chefs for dinners, cookery classes and tutored wine tastings. On top of OXBO, he will oversee the hotel's banqueting facilities.

Hilton London Bankside general manager James B Clarke said: "The new appointment will allow the hotel's restaurant to continue delivering bold, fresh and phenomenal flavours to its diners. Top-quality, locally sourced produce will remain a high priority to London Hilton Bankside's menu."

Couillaud studied at the Maison de la Formation in Poitiers before taking his baccalaureate de cuisine in 1988. His first cooking job involved an apprenticeship at Le Cheval Blanc in Vouillé.

He moved to London in 1992 and took up his first position as a chef de partie under Phil Howard at the Michelin-starred Square for one year. He landed his first head chef role with the launch of La Trompette in Chiswick in 2001 and remained there until 2005.

Subsequently, he moved to join Tom Aikens as head chef for the launch of Tom's Kitchen in Chelsea in 2006 and also worked as executive chef at the Royal Academy of Arts through Peyton & Byrne.

Paul Bates to replace Nigel Boschetti as executive chef at JW Marriott Grosvenor House >>

Nigel Boschetti to depart Grosvenor House for New York's Marriott Marquis >>

Ollie Couillaud joins Peyton & Byrne as Royal Academy of Arts executive chef >>