INTERVIEW-Ousted CEO Woodford calls on Olympus board to resign

The board of Olympus should resign after the company revealed Tuesday that its acquisition of British medical equipment maker Gyrus in 2008 and three domestic firms was used to cover losses dating back to the 1990s, ousted CEO Michael Woodford said.

"The position of the board and non execs is untenable now," Woodford told Reuters in an interview by telephone from London, adding that it his "desire" to return to manage the endoscope maker should shareholders wish to reinstate him.

The company fired Woodford on Oct. 14, saying he failed to understand the company's management style or Japanese culture after he sought action by the board to uncover why it paid $687 million to advisers on the Gyrus deal and acquired three companies in Japan that it largely wrote down.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Joseph Radford)