Dr. Douglas A. Ollivant
Managing Partner
Douglas A. Ollivant is a Managing Partner of Mantid International. He also holds an appointment as a Senior Fellow at two think tanks, New America and the Foreign Policy Research Institute. 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.
AA graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois, Ollivant holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University, is a graduate of the U.S. Army's School of Advanced Military Studies and an MBA candidate in the James Madison University Business School. He is a frequent television commentator on defense and Middle East issues, on networks including CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, PBS, BBC and Al Jazeera. 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 in the public and private sector. A widely published essayist, he is working on a book manuscript, as well as various manuscripts on the Iraq conflict, 2003-present. He resides on his small holding on the Rappahannock River in Culpeper County, Virginia.
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.
AA graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois, Ollivant holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University, is a graduate of the U.S. Army's School of Advanced Military Studies and an MBA candidate in the James Madison University Business School. He is a frequent television commentator on defense and Middle East issues, on networks including CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, PBS, BBC and Al Jazeera. 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 in the public and private sector. A widely published essayist, he is working on a book manuscript, as well as various manuscripts on the Iraq conflict, 2003-present. He resides on his small holding on the Rappahannock River in Culpeper County, Virginia.