John Furlong

John Furlong, OC, OBC (born October 12, 1950) is a Canadian sports administrator who oversaw the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics and was President and CEO of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC).

Furlong is chairman of Rocky Mountaineer, corporate director of Canadian Tire, volunteer chair of Own the Podium and a public speaker.

Furlong first visited Canada as a physical education teacher and missionary at two Catholic day schools from 1969 to 1972 in the Canadian province of British Columbia in the communities of Burns Lake and Prince George, it has been reported he physically and emotionally abused multiple children while at those schools.

At the conclusion of his teaching term he returned to Ireland and served as a sports administrator at Newpark Comprehensive School before emigrating to Canada in 1975.

He was also president of the Arbutus Club, a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, and head of the BC Summer Games, BC Winter Games and Sport B.C.

He has cited Canada as being possibly unique in appointing an immigrant to be CEO of their Olympic Games.

His performance and leadership in the Canadian Sport community and specifically in the highly successful staging of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games led to him receiving the Order of Canada and Order of British Columbia as well as numerous honorary degrees.

After the Games, accusations of errors and omissions in his autobiography and abuse allegations were published dating back to his years as a missionary and teacher.

Furlong has vehemently denied all the allegations.

Furlong chaired the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation (2001–04) and pitched Vancouver in Prague in its bid to the International Olympic Committee to host the Winter Games.

Furlong was chair of Own the Podium, a Canadian not-for-profit organization created several years before the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games to develop Canada as a world leader in high performance sport.

With Own the Podium support Team Canada won a record 26 medals at the Vancouver Olympic Games including an historic 14 gold medals.

Furlong spoke at the World Hockey Summit in 2010, and felt it was important to maintain National Hockey League participation at the Olympics and find a solution to concerns the league had.

With respect to the deal arranged for the 2010 Olympics, he stated that "The fans would never forgive you. That's what I think should be driving you to a solution".

In 2010, Furlong joined the board of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. With the sale of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings to Vail Resprts in 2016, Furlong's term on the board ended.

In the aftermath of the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riots, at the request of then-Premier Christie Clark John Furlong and Douglas Keefe provided 53 recommendations in their September 2011 report, The Night the City Became a Stadium: Independent Review of 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup Playoffs Riot.

Since 2011, Furlong has served as a member of the corporate board of Canadian Tire retailer.

He is also board chairman of the Canadian Tire charitable organization, Jumpstart, that funds youth sport called.

As a paid keynote speaker, Furlong is a member of the National Speakers Bureau.

John Furlong had been the subject of some controversy following accusations of errors and omissions in his autobiography and legal actions arising from abuse allegations.

On February 12, 2011, the one-year anniversary of the Olympics, Furlong, with Globe and Mail journalist Gary Mason, published his autobiography Patriot Hearts – Inside the Olympics that Changed a Country.

In 2012, several inaccuracies and omissions were uncovered by sports journalist Laura Robinson.

Furlong served as advisor to the organizers of the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, British Columbia.

In July 2016, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced that Furlong will chair the Special Committee for Home Games (SCHG) to assist Calgary if it decides to bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics.

In 2016, Furlong and Gareth Rees led Rugby Canada's bid for Vancouver's to host the World Rugby Sevens World Series event.

He continues to chair the annual tournament.

Furlong is chairman of Rocky Mountaineer, a rail tourism company based in Vancouver and board member with its owner Armstrong Group Ltd.

In July 2017, Furlong joined the Victoria, British Columbia bid committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

In August 2017, Victoria's bid was cancelled after the provincial government declined financial support.

In October 2017, Furlong and Victoria bid committee chair David Black attempted to revive Victoria's bid.

In an opinion column published by Victoria News, a Black Press news site owned by David Black, Furlong expressed his support for Victoria's bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

There is no evidence that the provincial government reconsidered its decision.

In an April 2021 speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade, Furlong pitched a plan to bring the Winter Olympic Games back to Vancouver in 2030.

Furlong claimed that existing facilities would serve as venues, that a wider group of B.C. municipalities would participate, and that the 2030 Games would be fully funded by the private sector.

The 2030 Games concept evolved to an Indigenous-led plan (Lil̓wat7úl (Líl̓wat), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations) with the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the municipalities of Vancouver and Whistler.

John Furlong was not involved.

On October 27, 2022, the British Columbia government announced it would not support a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Concern about Furlong's past was cited as possibly factoring in the failure of his plan.

On November 13, 2018, plebiscite, a majority of Calgary citizens voted against hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Within a week of that non-binding plebiscite, Calgary City Council voted to shut down the bid.