For Immediate Release

Mike Olson Named President and Chief Operating Officer of Living on the Edge

Living on the Edge is pleased to announce the appointment of business executive Mike Olson as the next President and Chief Operating Officer for the 28-year-old media, teaching, and international discipleship ministry. CarterBaldwin Executive Search led the nationwide effort. Olson joins the team at Living on the Edge effective July 1, 2023.

Over the last five years, Living on the Edge has experienced tremendous growth, tripling in size and ministry impact. Experiencing unexplainable favor from God, the ministry is poised to help address the discipleship deficit in the Church. As President and COO, Olson will partner with the ministry’s founder and CEO, Chip Ingram, to develop and shape the strategy of Living on the Edge and lead the operational execution of its mission.

“I am incredibly excited about God bringing Mike Olson to our team. His business expertise, commitment to the Lord, personal humility, and thirst to make a difference for Christ makes him a great fit and a tremendous answer to prayer,” asserts Chip Ingram, CEO and Teaching Pastor of Living on the Edge.

Olson joins Living on the Edge from Johnson Health Tech (JHT), one of the world’s largest fitness equipment manufacturers. He served in executive level positions at JHT for more than twenty years, most recently as Executive Vice President of Sporting Goods and E-Commerce for North America.

Olson began his career in sales, marketing, and product development for JHT’s Horizon Fitness division while it was in start-up mode. He was quickly promoted to Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, and in just five years the company grew from under $20M in revenue to over $150M. In 2012, he was honored as one of SGB Media’s 40 Under 40 award recipients in the sporting goods industry. During his time at JHT, Olson established the company’s first e-commerce business, forged partnerships with Fortune 100 and 500 companies, managed mergers and acquisitions, and developed licensing agreements with premier brands. For more than twenty years, he was part of the global JHT executive team that grew the business from a small entrepreneurial organization to one with an excess of $1B in annual sales.

Olson’s path to ministry began eleven years ago in his local church. He began to think differently about business as it relates to God’s purposes and decided to attend seminary to prepare for a future in faith-based service.

“I knew eleven years ago that God would call me into full-time ministry in His timing. My twenty-plus years of corporate executive management experience, the training and equipping I’ve received from Moody Bible Institute and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and my sincere desire to seek the Lord’s will for my life have led me to this remarkable opportunity with Living on the Edge. Chip and the team at Living on the Edge have fostered one of the most genuine and impactful global ministries whose work is so needed in our culture and world today. I’m truly humbled and honored to come alongside such a gifted and devoted group of Christ followers.”

A Minnesota native, Olson grew up in the Midwest. He earned an MA in Applied Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute, an MBA from Colorado State University, and a BA in Exercise Science from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. He is currently on track to complete an MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Olson has volunteered in prison ministry, teaches adult Sunday school at his church, and has traveled to Guatemala numerous times with his family to serve a local school that supports impoverished children and families.

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