Richard Harding will quit as CEO and Managing Director of NSW government insurer icare, saying he wants to use his experience in a different way.

Mr Harding, who became the state’s highest paid public servant when he joined the state-run workers comp scheme in 2021, will resign from the role in October.

His appointment, which came with an annual salary of $822,000 plus a 50 per cent bonus, was slammed at the time for being greedy and out of touch.

“Earlier today I let the icare team know about my decision to resign as CEO on October 2024,” he said in a LinkedIn post.

“After 17 years as a CEO across three insurers with strong community-oriented purposes, I have decided that now is the right time to use my experience in a different way.

“I’m looking forward to my next step, helping insurers and businesses deal with the ever-changing environment in which we operate.”

Mr Harding said he had started the journey by recently joining the board of charity-owned Ansvar Australia, a risk and insurance provider for the Care, Community, Education, Faith and Heritage sectors.

In a statement on Wednesday,  icare Chair John Robertson thanked  Mr Harding for implementing significant reform at the organisation and leading it out of a time of crisis and intense public scrutiny.

Mr Harding’s leadership and guidance had created a focus for icare, one of the largest insurers in Australia, and put it on the path to long term sustainability, Mr Robertson said.

“Richard’s leadership has been unwavering, with a focus on ensuring the organisation is providing the best possible outcomes for the people relying on the insurance schemes operated by icare,” he said.

“He has shown resilience during some challenging times, resetting the organisation’s focus, stabilising performance, and delivering on public expectations.”

Mr Robertson said icare’s new claims model had also removed risk and created an environment of competition that would result in better outcomes for injured workers and employers.

icare will now begin recruiting for a new CEO.