FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2002

            Owens & Minor Launches New Strategic Initiatives Designed
                to Deliver Growth, Productivity and Profitability

          THE COMPANY ALSO ANNOUNCES THE REPURCHASE OF COMMON STOCK AND
                 TRUST PREFERRED SECURITIES OF UP TO $50 MILLION

Richmond, VA....(NYSE-OMI) Owens & Minor, a Fortune 500 company and the nation's
leading distributor of national name brand medical and surgical products, today
announced new strategic initiatives designed to deliver sales and earnings
growth, productivity and profitability. First, Owens & Minor will build on a
successful track record of consulting and outsourcing by creating a supply chain
management solutions unit focused on implementing cost reduction and operational
improvements for hospital customers. Second, Owens & Minor will engage in
strategic development of a third party logistics (3PL) unit, aimed at
aggregating customer orders and growing its existing manufacturer direct
business. And third, through its core business the company will enhance its
industry-leading technology and customer service, as well as drive new supplier
and productivity initiatives. The core distribution business will be a
foundation for the company's new strategic direction.

"Healthcare is an industry that has undergone rapid change in the last century,
and Owens & Minor has changed along with it," said G. Gilmer Minor, III,
chairman and chief executive officer of Owens & Minor. "We have a successful
history of reinventing ourselves to keep pace with the evolving needs of
healthcare customers. We serve our customers with advanced logistics programs,
innovative technology solutions and sophisticated supply chain management
techniques. Now, as the nature of healthcare continues to change, Owens & Minor
is reinventing itself once again. We have listened to our customers and we will
help them change to create value."

Owens & Minor has maintained the necessary financial and operational strength to
expand its core business, while developing two new healthcare initiatives. The
company's strong cash flow and exceptional financing flexibility form a strong
platform for a new era of growth. As it has throughout its history, the company
will monitor the horizon for accretive acquisitions that would build on Owens &
Minor's core competencies and improve its offerings to customers.


Strategic Initiatives

In each case the new strategic initiatives are grounded in customer research and
market analysis in concert with expertise derived from years of practical
application at Owens & Minor. The company is taking advantage of its current
financial flexibility and strength to invest in formalizing efforts and projects
that have already proven successful.

"In each piece of this strategy the company intends to build on years of
experience in healthcare and the strong base of trust we have built with
customers and suppliers," said Craig R. Smith, president and chief operating



officer of Owens & Minor. "In addition, we expect the synergies among the three
business initiatives will result in improved growth, productivity and
profitability. By working within the healthcare market, we will leverage our
existing facilities, relationships and expertise to take the company to a new
level."


OMSolutionsSM

As one of the most trusted players in healthcare, Owens & Minor has developed a
high degree of proficiency in creating and delivering supply chain management
solutions. With OMSolutionsSM, a new supply chain management solutions unit, the
company will package and implement consulting and outsourcing services. Through
this new effort, Owens & Minor is also positioned to collaborate with other
consulting groups and with customers to implement supply chain management
improvements. While Owens & Minor has a history of providing consulting services
to customers, the company is now investing specifically in this effort to
formalize and standardize OMSolutionsSM.

Through its research and industry knowledge, Owens & Minor discovered that
hospital customers are looking for a trusted partner to help them manage the
supply chain. The company already has more than two dozen OMSolutionsSM projects
in place with a wide variety of customers, and demand for these services is
growing rapidly. Programs offered by OMSolutionsSM include long-term partnership
initiatives such as outsourced materials management; integrated operating room
management; clinical inventory management; order optimization; WISDOMSM and
WISDOM2 SM implementation; and outsourced warehousing. OMSolutionsSM also offers
a menu of supply chain management services such as: receiving and storeroom
redesign; physical inventories; and par reconfiguration. These services are
designed to improve supply chain efficiency and allow the provider to focus on
patient care.

"Over the past three years we have been collaborating with a number of
healthcare consulting firms at our customers' request," said Minor. "This will
continue. We will focus on implementing supply chain and logistics
recommendations using the tools that we have developed and used successfully to
help our customers. When asked, our OMSolutionsSM team can function as the
primary consultant, or simply as the implementer."


Third Party Logistics Division (3PL)

Owens & Minor is renewing its third party logistics (3PL) business unit, which
is designed to help facilitate product flow in the supply chain from the
manufacturer to the provider. A 3PL company provides the physical distribution
services of warehousing and transportation, enabled with technology and
processes to facilitate the movement of goods and information between buyer and
seller. Demand for these services is increasingly customer-driven, as hospital
customers are asking for help in streamlining the supply chain. By entering the
3PL arena of its own industry, Owens & Minor will expand its reach across the
supply chain.




After reviewing many options, Owens & Minor has initiated plans to grow the 3PL
business organically. Because there is minimal 3PL penetration in healthcare,
compared to other industries, the opportunity is compelling. Among the company's
competitive advantages are: a necessary level of trust between Owens & Minor as
a 3PL provider and the customer; geographic reach; a critical mass of deliveries
each day; a fleet of delivery vehicles; and established patterns of delivery.
Owens & Minor, therefore, has a distinct advantage, as it maintains strong and
trusting relationships with both hospital customers and supplier partners and
leads its market in distribution services. From corporate offices to receiving
docks, Owens & Minor is a well-known, highly regarded and trusted player in the
healthcare supply chain.

Through its 3PL business unit, Owens & Minor will offer logistics and supply
chain management services in two main categories: distribution and
transportation management; and consulting services. In order to make the most of
these opportunities, Owens & Minor intends to leverage its existing
relationships with suppliers and end-users, its activity-based costing
expertise, and its distribution facilities, transportation systems and
information technology. The company's goal is to ensure that products reach the
patient in the most cost-effective manner. This new initiative offers Owens &
Minor an excellent avenue for diversification within healthcare, without the
risk of inventory ownership.

"We expect this business to succeed because it is both customer and supplier
driven," said Smith. "We are natural partners in this aspect of the supply
chain. When manufacturers look at the cost of distribution, we believe they will
turn to us; and when customers focus on the supply chain, we believe they will
also turn to us to drive down the total delivered cost of products. By using
this 3PL model and our distribution capabilities, Owens & Minor will create
alternative forms of inventory management for the benefit of customers and
manufacturers."

James E. Grieger, an executive experienced in third party logistics, joined
Owens & Minor earlier this year. He will serve as operating company vice
president, Third Party Logistics. Grieger, who most recently worked with North
American Logistics of Allied Worldwide, has more than twenty years of logistics
experience. The company expects that his expertise in the operations and
marketing of 3PL services will give new momentum to this initiative.


Core Distribution Business

Owens & Minor has positioned its core healthcare distribution business to serve
as a foundation for further growth, enabling the company to enter two new areas
in healthcare. To support the core business, the company will continue to invest
in enhancing its industry-leading technology and customer service. In addition,
the company will undertake new supplier and productivity initiatives.

Owens & Minor is undertaking a comprehensive revision of its supplier strategy
to focus its efforts on the most efficient suppliers, vendors and stock keeping
units (SKUs). The company will use advanced category management techniques to
lessen costly duplication of products in its warehouses. The attending category
management strategy will allow Owens & Minor to reduce the number of SKUs in the
warehouses. Maintaining an optimal number of SKUs in the distribution facilities
and improving inventory turns will reduce cost, improve productivity and provide
additional capacity needed for the 3PL venture.




The company has successfully launched a private label program called
MediChoiceTM. This product line is designed to provide value and choice to
customers. Throughout a 2002 rollout, MediChoiceTM has proven its potential with
steadily growing sales. The MediChoiceTM line currently includes products such
as gowns, shoe covers, hot- and cold-packs, and crutches. In 2003, Owens & Minor
will continue to introduce new MedichoiceTM products. The company will also
expand its long-standing FOCUSTM program, which allows the company to drive
marketshare for participating manufacturers, and improves profitability for
Owens & Minor.

In addition, Owens & Minor is undertaking initiatives to improve productivity in
its distribution facilities nationwide based on the "OM Model," a best-practices
model developed from the company's most efficient distribution facilities. Among
these initiatives is an effort to improve the company's purchasing processes to
take advantage of greater economies of scale, and improve forecasting and the
exchange of information. Using the OM Model, the company will also undertake a
comprehensive storage strategy to improve productivity, including optimization
of the company's facilities nationwide. The OM Model will also provide each of
the company's distribution facilities with a framework for improving already
strong inventory turns and service levels. As a result, Owens & Minor will
provide customers with a higher level of consistency and efficiency throughout
its nationwide distribution network.

Owens & Minor will continue to invest in its award-wining technology programs,
which help improve core business productivity through such programs as warehouse
optimization, inventory management and document imaging. Technology improvements
help customers improve efficiency by offering web-based self-service, data
management and improved order management. The company also expects to install
productivity management tools, such as slotting software and labor management
software for the warehouses, and global positioning systems and on-board fleet
management systems for the company's trucks.


               Trust Preferred Repurchase and Common Stock Buyback

The company announced today that its board of directors has authorized a $50
million repurchase plan representing a combination of its common stock and its
$2.6875 Term Convertible Securities, Series A issued by the company's wholly
owned subsidiary Owens & Minor Trust I ("trust preferred securities"). Of this
$50 million, up to a maximum of $35 million in common stock may be purchased by
the company. The shares of common stock and trust preferred securities may be
acquired from time to time at management's discretion through December 31, 2003
in the open market, in block trades, in private transactions or otherwise.

"We believe that this repurchase plan is an excellent opportunity to enhance
shareholder value," said Minor. "Our strong free cash flow makes this an
attractive opportunity for Owens & Minor."

Owens & Minor will initiate these repurchase programs as a demonstration of its
confidence in new strategic initiatives and to take advantage of favorable



market conditions. The company intends to maintain its strong financial
flexibility in order to fund future business growth, either through acquisition
or through building its own capabilities.


Guidance for 2003 and Beyond

As a result of the creation and startup of two new business units and investment
in the core business, Owens & Minor is issuing the following financial guidance
for 2003 and 2004:

         For 2003, the company anticipates that it will report sales growth in
         the 3 to 6 percent range. Due to investments in the new strategic
         initiatives, the company anticipates earnings per diluted share (EPS)
         growth in the 6 to 10 percent range.

         For 2004, Owens & Minor anticipates sales growth in the 4 to 7 percent
         range, with EPS growth in the 15 to 20 percent range.

This guidance comes as a result of anticipated investment in the business in
2003, with expectations that the new units along with a strengthened core
business will deliver accelerated and sustainable results beginning in 2004.

                       Webcast and Conference Call Details

The company will webcast its Investor Day on Wednesday, November 20th beginning
at 9:00 a.m. EST. This webcast can be found on www.owens-minor.com, and will be
archived for thirty days. The company will also host a listen-only conference
call beginning at 9:00 a.m. on November 20th, which will be archived for 5
business days. The conference call number is 800-659-1081. The replay number is
800-252-6030 with passcode #14430311.

                              Safe Harbor Statement
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in
this press release constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
projected, anticipated or implied. The most significant of these uncertainties
are described in the Company's Form 10-K, Form 8-K and Form 10-Q reports filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include, but are not limited to,
the loss of one or more key customer or supplier, changes in manufacturers'
pricing, sales or distribution policies or in customer order patterns, changes
in government funding to hospitals and other healthcare providers, general
economic and market conditions as well as the costs, difficulties and
uncertainties related to the implementation of the strategic initiatives
outlined above. The Company assumes no obligation to update information
contained in this release whether as a result of new information or otherwise.

Owens & Minor, Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia,
is the nation's leading distributor of national name-brand medical and surgical
supplies. The company's distribution centers throughout the United States serve
hospitals, integrated healthcare systems and group purchasing organizations. In



addition to its diverse product offering, Owens & Minor helps customers control
healthcare costs and improve inventory management through innovative services in
supply chain management and logistics. The company has also established itself
as a leader in the development and use of technology. For news releases visit
www.prnewswire.com, or for more information about Owens & Minor, as well as news
releases and virtual warehouse tours, visit the company's web site at
www.owens-minor.com.


Contact:
Jeff Kaczka, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, 804-965-5896
Trudi Allcott, Manger, Investor Communications, 804-935-4291

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