Key words Rigid local system, system of Okubo normal form, monodromy representation MSC (2000) 34M35, 15A30For systems of differential equations of the form (xIn − T )dy/dx = Ay (systems of Okubo normal form), where A is an n × n constant matrix and T is an n × n constant diagonal matrix, two kinds of operations (extension and restriction) are defined. It is shown that every irreducible system of Okubo normal form of semi-simple type whose monodromy representation is rigid is obtained from a rank 1 system of Okubo normal form by a finite iteration of the operations. Moreover, an algorithm to calculate the generators of monodromy groups for rigid systems of Okubo normal form is given.