Honoree: Tanja Olano

Chief Legal Counsel
LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games
The George Washington University Law School

Tanja Olano is a trailblazing commercial attorney known for melding exceptional precision with extraordinary creativity. In her current role at the organizing committee for the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games, she leads work that is foundational to LA28’s success, including commercial transactions, intellectual property, corporate governance, and real estate negotiations, plus oversight of the organization’s human resources.

From operations to marketing to impact, her leadership touches every functional area in the organization and is instrumental in positioning LA28 to deliver fiscally responsible, low-risk Games that leave a positive impact on Los Angeles. Olano joined LA28 in 2015 and served as the deputy general counsel for the LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Candidature Committee. This year she was appointed head of LA28’s Human Resources department.

In her current role, Olano reports directly to LA28 CEO Kathy Carter and works closely with chair Casey Wasserman on board-related matters. In the last year, she has carefully architected one of the industry’s leading legal teams, growing it from just four people to 13 and counting. She oversees every legal aspect of the organization, including commercial contracts covering sponsorships, licensing, and e-commerce; hospitality; Games planning and venue use agreements; and all organizational governance for the LA28 Board of Directors (including its committees) and the Board of United States Olympic and Paralympic Properties, LLC. Over the course of this past year, Olano has shown incredible growth and versatility as an executive, first overseeing the finance department during a period of executive transition, and then taking on oversight of human resources - doubling the team she leads and gaining responsibility for the ultimate hiring of thousands of employees over the life of the organizing committee.

Beyond her executive contributions, Olano has been fundamental to the commercial partnerships for the organization. In 2021, she drove contractual negotiations exceeding $1 billion in deal value, including the Comcast, Deloitte, and Salesforce sponsorships and for the first time ever, a deal with the IOC, IPC, and other organizing committees, to establish Endeavor’s OnLocation as the global hospitality provider for the Games. In 2022, Olano oversaw the partnership negotiations with Hershey and global merchandise leader Fanatics.