Leadership Team reflection: Q&A with Carl Larsen

An organised and efficient project manager with strong industry networks, new RMCG Principal Carl Larsen works across sustainable agriculture, land and water management, as well as strategy, evaluation and facilitation.

He is a thought leader, delivering research, development and extension (RD&E) projects to assist farmers to adopt best practice, as well as providing expertise in regenerative horticulture, alternative water use, waste and resource recovery in agriculture, carbon farming, climate change and catchment management.

During his career at RMCG, Carl has led both our internal Environment and Community & Strategy work areas and formalised our approach to communications and marketing. He currently oversees our Information and Communication Technology, Business Sustainability Group and has driven partnerships with environmental charities such as the Odonata Foundation.

Carl joined the Leadership Team in 2019 and is testament to how our employee-owned business model can effectively facilitate succession and leadership within our team. He takes on the role of RMCG Principal from Anne-Maree Boland, who transitioned to a RMCG Associate and stepped down from the Leadership Team on 1 July 2025.

Read our Q&A to find out more about what’s in store for Carl as he embarks on his new role as a RMCG Principal.

What was your key driver to become a Principal at RMCG?

One of the things that stood out immediately when I started at RMCG over 16 years ago was the variety of work and the high calibre of people – I knew quite early on that it was a business that I wanted to work for long-term.

Looking at the opportunities that the business has provided around career progression and growth, they’ve been unparalleled in terms of what was on offer and is still on offer, including supporting formal post-graduate study and on-the-job training. It’s been fantastic, and a big contributor to where I am today.

I’ve been really fortunate to have some amazing mentors and work with fantastic people over the last 16 years, and I want to continue to contribute that energy and developing the next generation of consultants. Because of the project-based nature of our work, we rely on each other’s multidisciplinary skills and contributing to high performing teams.

What people can expect of me individually is to move at pace with purpose – that’s been a big mantra of mine which I’ll continue to bring to the role.

What are you looking forward to in the role?

What I’m looking forward to most is continuing my passion for where science meets people – assisting with evidence-based decision-making and continuing to do impactful work. Part of that evidence-based decision-making is about driving sustainable food futures and protecting and enhancing our natural resource base, which is my professional background and relates to most of my work at RMCG.

There is a lot of significance in the change as well in terms of succession and how that is a real strength of the business. Anne-Maree Boland brought me into the business and to go full circle with her passing on the baton of Principal is a huge privilege and something that I don’t take lightly.

Where would you like to see RMCG in the future?

I’d love to see us continue to be Australia’s strongest regionally focused consulting firm and build on our really strong reputation in the bush. It’s a privileged position to come into a senior leadership role in such an established organisation with almost 90 great people. They say, ‘If you want to go quickly, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.’ And I think we’ve got a pretty good culture around that.

I’m also keen to grow our influence in terms of our knowledge and insights, geographic coverage both here and abroad, and the scale of our projects. As a B Corp certified business, I’m looking to continue supporting RMCG in creating positive change for society and the environment through work in the agriculture, natural resource and water sectors and positioning RMCG as a carbon neutral business.

TV interview for My Market Kitchen on-farm in Werribee in 2020.