Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House, has been confirmed as the chair of a new Cultural Olympiad board, which will oversee the ambitious program of cultural events is scheduled to run alongside the games.

Additional members of the board are Arts Council chief executive Alan Davey, Royal Shakespeare Company director Vicky Heywood, Barbican managing director Sir Nicholas Kenyon, BBC director general Mark Thompson, Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota, the London mayor's adviser on arts and culture Munira Mirza, and Jude Kelly, the Southbank Centre artistic director who has been overseeing the project to date.

Certain projects for the Cultural Olympiad have already been announced, including an international Shakespeare festival, a UK-wide film project for young people and World River, a music festival to take place in London.