John Olson
Founder
303.415.1115
john@whitelakepartners.com
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As Founder of White Lake Partners, John advises both the internal recruiting body as well as clients on how to best leverage talent to achieve business objectives. He founded the firm upon a unique set of services to best accomplish that purpose, and afford him the ability to personally deliver a full range of executive talent and leadership development solutions.

Through his years in the executive search industry and working with some of the industry's most highly regarded corporations, he has refined his assessment capabilities and strategic business sense to the advantage of his clients.

John has earned an international reputation for executing hundreds of top quality executive searches across all sectors of the manufacturing and industrial markets. He has managed engagements at the C-level, as well as for Divisional Presidents and functional heads of Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain/Logistics, Finance, Human Resources, and IT.

With over 15 years of domain expertise, John has a comprehensive understanding of the business strategies and internal operations of manufacturing and industrial organizations. His clients have come to rely on his unique perspective and consultative style when assessing talent for their companies. Further, his strong execution abilities are validated by repeat business with long-term clients.

Prior to founding White Lake Partners, John served as an Executive Vice President with Cook Associates, Inc., a retained executive search and M&A advisory services firm. During his 17 years with the firm, he established and led the Manufacturing practice and founded its first satellite office in Boulder, Colorado. John served as a key member of the senior operating committee, setting business strategy and executing corporate goals. He was instrumental in building processes to measure search productivity and effectiveness that were adopted across the organization, and was consistently recognized as a top performer.

He launched his career with DMA International, a mergers and acquisitions intermediary that specialized in industrial and automotive markets.

John received his BA from Michigan State University. John, his wife, and two children live in Boulder and are avid cyclists, skiers, and golfers.