Larry O'Brien (Canadian politician)

Larry O'Brien
O'Brien in 2007
58th Mayor of Ottawa
In office
December 1, 2006 – November 30, 2010
Preceded byBob Chiarelli
Succeeded byJim Watson
Personal details
Born
Lawrence Robert O'Brien

(1949-07-19) July 19, 1949 (age 75)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Political partyLiberal
Canadian Alliance
Conservative (by 2006)[1]
Spouses
Debbie Green
​
(m. 1983⁠–⁠1995)​
Colleen McBride
​
(m. 2008)​
[2]
ChildrenMichael O'Brien
Matthew O'Brien

Lawrence Robert O'Brien[3] (born July 19, 1949) is a Canadian businessman and politician. O'Brien served as the 58th mayor of Ottawa from 2006 until 2010. 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 (outsourcing) 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.[4] He ran for re-election in the Ottawa mayoral election in 2010 but was defeated by then 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.[5][6] In 2008, O'Brien married real estate agent Colleen McBride.[2]

  1. ^ "Waiting for O'Brien's philosophy". Ottawa Citizen. July 21, 2006. p. F3. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Larry's party". Ottawa Citizen. June 28, 2008. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012.
  3. ^ Holmes, Gillian (2002). Who's Who in Canadian Business 2003. University of Toronto Press. pp. 684–5. ISBN 0802088694. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  4. ^ "O'Brien leaves Calian". Ottawa Business Journal. July 13, 2012. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  5. ^ "A person of substance". Ottawa Citizen. March 21, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
  6. ^ Green, Jennifer (May 11, 2009). "A matter of faith". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved November 2, 2010.