Bengaluru, Jul 4 (IANS): Ride-sharing taxi aggregator Ola on Wednesday appointed former eBay Chief Executive Simon Smith as Managing Director of Australia where it began its operations in January.

"Smith will head and develop the leadership team to build our operations which include strategy, marketing, product development, customer service and engage with drivers as partners," the company said in a statement here.

Prior to this, Smith was Executive Director of Sportsbet, Vice-President of Virtual Offices at Servcorp and a Consultant at global management firm McKinsey and Company.

"As I relish building organisations from the ground up, I have joined Ola, which has built success on a community-first approach and committed to giving driver-partners better deal with industry leading commission," Smith said in the statement.

"Smith is an entrepreneurial and strategic leader who has demonstrated strong business and people leadership in his career. He will build the future of mobility in Australia and create impact for its consumers and driver partners," Ola co-founder and Chief Executive Bhavish Aggarwal said.

Ola is available across Australia in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and the Gold Coast and is soon launching its services in Adelaide.