Larry O'Brien

Who is Larry O'Brien?

Lawrence Robert O'Brien, was the 58th mayor of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. O'Brien was the founder and former Chair and CEO of Calian Technologies Ltd.

O'Brien attended Elmdale Public School and Fisher Park High School, and graduated from Merivale High School in 1968. He studied at Algonquin College and graduated with a diploma in Technology in 1972. After graduating, O'Brien worked in the high technology sector, where he met Terry Matthews and Michael Cowpland. He then joined Microsystems International Ltd. In 1975 he worked for the Communications Research Centre and Motorola Communications. O'Brien then launched his first company, Insta-Call Ltd., which went bankrupt in 1979. From then to 1982, he was the general manager of reliability-testing firm Reltek Inc. in Kanata, subsequently leaving to open Calian Technologies Ltd., a staffing and engineering service provider.

O'Brien left Calian as CEO and chairman in 2006 when he was elected mayor of Ottawa. He remained a director of the firm until stepping down in 2012. He ran for re-election in the Ottawa mayoral election in 2010 but was defeated by former mayor Jim Watson.

O'Brien married Debbie Green in 1983. They had two sons, Michael and Matthew. In 1995, O'Brien and Green divorced. In 2008, O'Brien married real estate agent Colleen McBride.