His eldest brother, Mohamed, dropped out of school to provide a steady income to support the family.

Upon completing his schoolwork, Osman moved to Cairo to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering.

Unable to afford tuition, rent, or even public transportation, Osman improvised: he received a scholarship from Cairo University, lived with his older sister, and commuted on a bike he had assembled himself.

The company grew and his operations expanded, but he struggled to compete with foreign firms for larger-scale projects.

He began to undertake larger projects, such as erecting an all-girls school and a theater, and eventually expanded his operations to Cairo.

Osman was able to take advantage of this, and within a short period of time was carrying out multibillion-dollar projects in Kuwait, Libya, Iraq, and the UAE, amassing a great deal of wealth.

Osman mentions that in most of these countries, he found the construction markets dominated by monopolies and cartels of foreign companies.

Osman returned with a bang, winning a $48 million contract for Nasser's pet project, the Aswan Dam.

Despite this, the Arab Contractors continue to thrive in Egypt, since Nasser's confrontational strategy with Israel required construction such as bunkers, airports, missile silos, etc.

Again, the Arab Contractors played a role; the company built the ferries that carried Egyptian forces across the Suez canal.

Like Sadat, Osman believed in capitalism, free-market principles, and open-door policies with trade, with certain restrictions.

Like Sadat, Osman also believed that it was in Egypt's (and the region's) best interest to try and tackle the Israeli-Palestine conflict diplomatically.

Osman stressed the importance of keeping employees happy, secure, and comfortable as a way to increase productivity.

For example, Osman led the first effort in Egypt to set up employee pension funds, as well as medical insurance.

Osman was an avid networker, and practiced his philosophy within the company, within Egypt, and even within the entire Middle East.

Defenders of Osman argue that he amassed most of his wealth during the Nasser presidency, mostly outside of Egypt (in other Arab countries).

In fact, they argue, most of Osman's wealth was invested in the Arab Contractors, which was nationalized by Nasser.

He suffered from several medical conditions in the last decade of his life, include heart problems and Alzheimer's disease.

In Ramadan 2007, a TV series featuring Nour Al-Sherif was aired on Arabic satellite channels.