Dr. Douglas A. Ollivant
Managing Partner
Douglas A. Ollivant is a Managing Partner of Mantid International. He also holds an appointment as an Arizona State University (ASU) Future of War senior fellow at New America, a Washington D.C. based think tank. A retired Army officer (Lieutenant Colonel), his last assignment in government was as Director for Iraq at the National Security Council during both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. Ollivant spent one year in 2010-2011 in Afghanistan as the Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to the Commander, Regional Command-East.
Prior to his posting at the White House, Ollivant served in Iraq as the Chief of Plans for Multi- National Division Baghdad in 2006-2007. During this time he led the planning team that designed the U.S. and Coalition portion of Baghdad Security Plan, the main effort of what later became known as the "Surge." He spent an earlier Iraq tour in 2004-2005 in Baghdad, Najaf, and Fallujah. He also taught politics at the United States Military Academy at West Point for three years.
An Oregon native and graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois, Ollivant holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army's School of Advanced Military Studies. He is a frequent television commentator on defense and Middle East issues, on networks including CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, PBS, BBC and Al Jazeera America/English. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Political Science Association, he also serves in various advisory capacities to Persistent Sentinel, Meridian Hill Advisors, and TranScan LLC. A widely published essayist, he is working on a book manuscript on the topic of Hybrid and Proxy Warriors, as well as various manuscripts on the Iraq conflict, 2003-present.
Prior to his posting at the White House, Ollivant served in Iraq as the Chief of Plans for Multi- National Division Baghdad in 2006-2007. During this time he led the planning team that designed the U.S. and Coalition portion of Baghdad Security Plan, the main effort of what later became known as the "Surge." He spent an earlier Iraq tour in 2004-2005 in Baghdad, Najaf, and Fallujah. He also taught politics at the United States Military Academy at West Point for three years.
An Oregon native and graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois, Ollivant holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army's School of Advanced Military Studies. He is a frequent television commentator on defense and Middle East issues, on networks including CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, PBS, BBC and Al Jazeera America/English. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Political Science Association, he also serves in various advisory capacities to Persistent Sentinel, Meridian Hill Advisors, and TranScan LLC. A widely published essayist, he is working on a book manuscript on the topic of Hybrid and Proxy Warriors, as well as various manuscripts on the Iraq conflict, 2003-present.