Chesapeake, VA – A 15-year company veteran, Gary Olsen came to Apogee Solutions as its Director of Business Development in 2010, later becoming Strategic Advisor for the company, providing guidance, counsel, and mentoring to the corporate staff. Gary conducts long-range planning for Apogee Solutions, including forecasting, customer relationship building, and strategic engagement. Gary has over 40 years of business development and program management experience with both large and small companies.
While he has been with Apogee Solutions for 15 years, his relationship started much earlier. In reality, Apogee Solutions owes much of its early success to the impact Gary had as the company was beginning. As an outside consultant, he was an active advisor and mentor as the company was establishing itself, and his guidance is still sought out on any major activity. When Kirk Little, Apogee Solutions’ Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, retired from the Air Force, Gary hired him to work at what was then GTE Government Systems. They worked together at GTE and when GTE’s military division was bought by General Dynamics, they both transferred. Little noted that “I am forever indebted to Gary for giving me a great start as I transitioned from active duty to being a Government contractor—and his wise counsel and wisdom is something I rely upon every day.”
Gary entered active duty in 1963 as a Davy Crockett platoon leader at Fort Lewis, WA. In 1965, he was assigned as a paratrooper and Infantry Platoon Leader for A Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Japan, later deploying to South Vietnam in a unit deployment from Okinawa that established a base of operations at Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. During this deployment, Gary saw combat action in II Corps, III Corps, and IV Corps.
During a second tour of duty from 1968 to 1969, Gary was initially assigned as a Brigade Deputy Operations Officer with the 4th Infantry Division. He later spent 6 months leading over 15 helicopter-borne assaults of a unit of Vietnamese Montagnards in combat operations, followed by 8 months of leadership with the Kit Carson Scouts, a unit comprised of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong prisoners of war who agreed to be scouts for U.S. forces in exchange for their freedom. During this second tour, Gary’s location changed on a regular basis, including time spent at Dak To, Pleiku, and Kontum.
Gary was also assigned to teach Army ROTC at the University of Detroit where he was shaped by his interaction with the Jesuit faculty members. Because Gary had an affinity for foreign languages, he was later sent to the Defense Language Institute to learn Laotian in preparation for a third tour in Southeast Asia, but the end of U.S. involvement removed that option. Instead, Gary was sent to Fort Polk to help establish the Joint Readiness Training Center. After this assignment, Gary and his family were sent to Indonesia, where Gary served in a military sales program. Gary’s final two assignments were at Fort Sam Houston, followed by Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Georgia.
Retiring from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1986, Gary became accustomed to being with companies that were bought by other, larger defense contractors. When he retired from the Army, he took a business development position with Bunker-Ramo in Boston. Bunker-Ramo was later bought by Eaton which was bought by Contel, and ultimately Gary ended up with GTE when it purchased Contel. During his time with all these companies, he was fortunate to work with many outstanding leaders who taught him how business development was conducted to maximize opportunities. Throughout his tenure with these companies, Gary was instrumental in winning major contracts at the Air Force’s Electronic Systems Center, U.S. Joint Forces Command, and other commands, ranging in value from $150K to over $500M.
When Gary left General Dynamics in 2004, he joined Cubic Applications, again working in business development, where he also served as a Program Manager for the Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center and supported the Joint Warfighting Center in addition to his business development responsibilities. Seeking a better working environment, he joined Apogee Solutions full time in February 2010. With Apogee Solutions, he has helped the company win contracts supporting the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Unified Combatant Commands.
Gary attended Furman College on a football scholarship, but his gridiron career was cut short by an injury, so he returned to Chicago and earned his undergraduate degree from DePaul University and commission as an infantry lieutenant in 1963. He added to his education with a Master’s Degree in Management and Human Resources from Webster University.
Gary grew up in Niles, Illinois, and considers himself a proud native of Chicago who never misses a game involving the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, or White Sox. He is also a credentialed soccer referee and has coached multiple women’s soccer teams, winning state titles in Georgia, Massachusetts, and Virginia. While a student at the Infantry Officers Advanced Course, Gary met his wife Brenda, and they raised four children, and one grandchild, at assignments around the world. A natural storyteller, Gary never misses a chance to find something amusing to share with others in the office.
About Apogee Solutions
Apogee Solutions is a Small Business Administration certified Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) specializing in Rehabilitative Services and Warrior Care, Training Services and Exercise Management, and Analytical Services and Force Development. For more information, visit www.apogee.us.com.