Mike Olesen, MBA in

Mike Olesen, MBA

Go-getter · DISC type d
General Manager at City of Red Deer
📍 Alberta, Canada

Mike Olesen is a General Manager for the City of Red Deer, leveraging extensive leadership experience from his prior role as CEO of Westerner Park. He is known for guiding organizations through significant challenges and modernization efforts. His background includes senior roles with the 2019 Canada Winter Games and he holds an MBA from Royal Roads University.

Mike is deeply committed to the Red Deer community, where he is raising his family, and is driven by a desire to build strong local connections. His long career history with Hockey Alberta and involvement in community sports events suggests a personal passion for the role of athletics in bringing people together.

He successfully steered the major events venue Westerner Park through what was described as one of the most significant crises in the organizations history.

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Experience
21 Years
Current Role
General Manager
Location
Alberta, Canada
Personality Overview

How Mike shows up

Decisive
Challenger
Fast-Paced

They care equally about the product and its potential impact. They focus on objectivity in a pitch and pay little attention to bells and whistles. They don’t always try to control the conversation but neither do they like yielding it fully.

Priorities

Topics Mike cares about

Municipal Finance
In his current role as GM of Growth and Finance, he is publicly navigating Red Deer's multi-million dollar budget shortfall and leading a comprehensive review of all city service levels.
Organizational Turnaround
As CEO, he was credited with leading Westerner Park through a major financial crisis by restructuring operations, modernizing systems, and rebuilding key stakeholder relationships.
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Career

Work history

6-2023 - 6-2025
General Manager
City of Red Deer
11-2019 - 6-2023
Chief Executive Officer
Westerner Park
8-2019 - 11-2019
Chief Operating Officer
Westerner Park
12-2015 - 6-2019
Senior Director - Administration & Finance
2019 Canada Winter Games // Jeux d’hiver du Canada 2019
7-2014 - 12-2015
Retail Optimization Management
Parkland Fuel Corporation
In the press

Media appearances

Mike Olesen joins City of Red Deer leadership team. Featured in City of Red Deer – Official Newsroom
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Education
2012 - 2014
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Royal Roads University
1998 - 2000
Phys. Ed & Sport Administration
Mount Royal University
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

d

Dominance (D)

Dominance (D) reflects how goal and task oriented a person is, and their ability to accomplish results irrespective of how demanding the circumstances might be. Those scoring high tend to be motivated by winning, competition, and success.

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