B.J. VENKATACHALA is professor emeritus at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education–Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (HBCSE-TIFR), India. Earlier, he held several administrative and academic positions, such as a scientist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru; lecturer at the University of Mysore; reader at Kuvempu University, Shimoga; a scientific officer at the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, where he took charge of the mathematical Olympiad activity in India. He later joined HBCSE–TIFR, where he was completely involved in selecting and training students for International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) for nearly 25 years, until his retirement in 2015. He has contributed to Olympiad literature in the form of problems and books. He was also the leader of the Indian team to IMO several times.