Christopher O’Leary

Christopher O’Leary is Senior Vice President for Global Operations at The Soufan Group. His career spans over two decades of service working on counterterrorism investigations and operations for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Christopher O’Leary joined The Soufan Group following over two decades of leading counterterrorism investigations and operations for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Before leaving federal service, Mr. O’Leary served as a Senior Executive (SES) in the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI, and as the U.S. Government’s Director of Hostage Recovery, where he led an interagency task force dedicated to the mission of safely bringing home Americans taken hostage by terrorist organizations.

Mr. O’Leary began his service with the FBI in the Minneapolis Field Office serving as a Special Agent on the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and as an FBI SWAT Operator.

Throughout his career, Mr. O’Leary served in numerous critical leadership roles including Supervisory Special Agent of the Al-Qaeda Squad of the New York JTTF, Unit Chief of the FBI’s elite Counterterrorism Fly Team, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the New York JTTF, and Section Chief in the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters. Mr. O’Leary has extensive experience working on counterterrorism matters around the world jointly with U.S. Special Operations and Intelligence Community colleagues, as well as with Intelligence and Security Services from foreign partners.

Mr. O’Leary holds a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Rutgers University, a master’s degree from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and a master’s degree in Government & National Security from Harvard University.