Coordinates: 45°42′54″N 4°48′30″E / 45.71500°N 4.8083°E / 45.71500; 4.8083

Oullins (French pronunciation: [ulɛ̃]) is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.

It is a suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to it on the southwest.

Coordinates: 45°42′54″N 4°48′30″E / 45.715°N 4.80833°E / 45.715; 4.80833

Charles Hernu (3 July 1923, Quimper, Finistère – 17 January 1990, Villeurbanne) was a French socialist politician, most notably serving as Minister of Defence from 1981 to 1985, until forced to resign over the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand.

Though a French national, Hernu received part of his higher education in Belgium. In 1946 he was a student at the Catholic University of Leuven in that country. There, he was one of the founders of a fraternity named Reuzegom. During this period he was known by the codename "Charles the invincible", which referred to his growing alcohol abuse habits and perseverance in seducing women. Also, in these days, Charles developed his deep aversion toward environmental activists^{[citation needed]}.

Hernu began his career working in the National Center of Foreign Trade (C.N.C.E.). In 1953, he created the "Club of the Jacobins", which ideologically was near to the radical (though non-communist) left, and which supported future Prime Minister Pierre Mendès France.