Russell will leave the company on March 31 and Paul O'Sullivan, CEO of group consumer with parent company SingTel, will act as interim CEO until a replacement has been found.
"Kevin joined Optus just over two years ago, and has provided strong leadership in repositioning the company,” O'Sullivan said in a statement.
“Several months ago, Kevin told me that he wished to move on to other challenges on completion of this phase, after ensuring an orderly transition that embeds the strategic transformation he has led."
Optus did not reveal Russell’s next movements, but he is expected to remain in Australia.
In September last year, Optus launched its TD-LTE network in four Australian cities.
