Frank O'Dea

As of

Francis O’Dea, OC (born 1945 in Montreal) is a Canadian entrepreneur, humanitarian and author. He left a lifestyle of homeless panhandling and in 1975 co-founded the Second Cup chain of coffee stores with Tom Culligan. He is currently the Chair of YP-IT Data and is Chair of the Development Committee of CUSO International. He regularly speaks professionally on the subjects of his personal and business life.

He was involved with the founding of Proshred Holdings Ltd. an international document destruction service (1986) and Samaritan Air Service, a regional air ambulance service (1989).

O'Dea became founding President of Renascent Treatment Foundation, (1983), founded Street Kids International, with Peter Dagleish, (1988), and the Canadian Landmine Foundation (1999). with support from many international dignitaries and Rotary International in Canada, he initiated the international charity, Night of a Thousand Dinners (2000), which resulted in 11,000 people sitting down to fundraising dinners in 29 countries all on the same night.

Awards and recognition

• 1991: Ontario Volunteer award
• 2004: Officer of the Order of Canada
• 2005: Life Board Member Renascent Treatment Foundation
• 2005: Doctor of Laws degree, Royal Roads University
• 2008: Doctor of Laws degree, Carleton Convocation

Books

• 2007: When All You Have is Hope (Penguin Canada) ISBN 978-0-670-06427-4
• 2013 Do The Next Right Thing: Surviving Life's Crises (Penguin Canada) ISBN 9780670065875

External links

• Order of Canada citation: Frank O'Dea
• Frank O'Dea Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
• frankodea.com