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Owen Clifford Pinnell (born 6 January 1947) is a Canadian engineer and business executive. He represented his birth country, New Zealand, as a bobsledder at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.

Early life

Born in Auckland on 6 January 1947, Pinnell studied engineering at Auckland Technical Institute and went on to have a career as a petroleum engineer and business executive in North America.

Engineering and business career

After graduating, Pinnell travelled and worked internationally in the mining industry in Africa and France, before settling in Alberta, Canada, in 1978, where he found employment with Dome Petroleum working on the company's ultimately unsuccessful Beaufort Sea development. He left Dome in 1982, and co-founded oil and gas exploration, processing and waste management company, Newalta Corp. The company, of which Pinnell was president, opened its first gas processing plant at Red Willow, Alberta, in 1988 and a second plant the following year, processing around 570,000 cubic metres (20,000,000 cu ft) of natural gas daily. A small player in the Alberta market, it was as a waste management company that Newalta gained attention. By 1989, the company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and had annual revenues of CA$15.5 million.

Pinnell left Newalta in 1992, and established Anadime Corp, initially as a commercial and industrial waste disposal company based in Victoria, British Columbia, because of a three-year non-competition agreement with Newalta. Once that agreement expired, Pinnell relocated Anadime to Alberta and reinvented the company as an oilfield waste management business. The company achieved a profit for the first time in 1996. In 2000, Pinnell stepped down as president and chief executive officer of Anadime, but retained a role in the company's strategic development. Anadime was acquired by Newalta in 2001.

Pinnell's subsequent business interests include being a director of Zeacom from 2003 to 2012, and chairman and chief executive of Calgary-based Anterra Energy.

Bobsleigh

Described as a "big, rugged-looking bloke who plays rugby and looks like he should be on his native country's national team", Pinnell joined up with other New Zealand expatriates living in the Calgary area in 1987 to form a bobsled team. Pinnell and two others had played rugby union for Calgary Irish, and had only just taken up bobsledding. Pinnell unsuccessfully approached Michael Fay for financial backing for the team, and donated the team uniform. The New Zealanders competed at World Cup bobsleigh events in late 1987, and did well enough for a team of four sledders to be selected to compete at the 1988 Winter Olympics; Pinnell was named as team manager but was not initially included as an athlete. However, after an appeal, Pinnell was added to the team as a reserve driver in the four-man team.

During pre-event training at the Olympic Games, New Zealand was allowed to train a reserve two-man bob team, with Pinnell as driver, to gain experience in case of injury to one of the nominated two-man sled members, and they performed well enough to be included in the main competition. Pinnell and his brakeman, Blair Telford, went on to finish in 31st place out of 41 teams.

Aged 41 when he participated in the 1988 Winter Olympics, Pinnell held the distinction of being the oldest New Zealand competitor at a Winter Olympics, until his record was surpassed in 2006 by three curlers: Lorne De Pape who was 50, Hans Frauenlob (45), and Dan Mustapic (45).

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Owen Pinnell Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
2. ^ Dabbs, Frank (10 August 1989). "Diversity key to success in service and supply". National Post. p. 16. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Keyser, Tom (16 August 1987). "Kiwis want crack at the world's top half". Calgary Herald. p. 13. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Waste station faces opposition". Medicine Hat News. 23 August 1988. p. 2. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.
5. Schreiner, John (5 November 1990). "Newalta devoting all its energy to hazardous wastes". National Post. p. 19. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Nelson, Barry (27 August 1996). "Fast growing oilpatch firm thrives on waste". Calgary Herald. p. 23. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Anadime". Calgary Herald. 14 January 2000. p. 62. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "'Scorched earth' campaign". Daily Herald-Tribune. 13 June 2001. p. 24. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Zeacom Group Limited – directors". New Zealand Companies Office. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
10. Healing, Dan (27 September 2008). "Liquidity crunch hits Venture Exchange". Calgary Herald. p. 52. Retrieved 2 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Fledgling bobsledders sliding for Calgary". The Press. 25 March 1987. p. 52. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
12. Dunbar, Tim (30 December 1987). "Nine chosen for Calgary". The Press. p. 40. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
13. "Bobsleigh manager named as reserve". The Press. 22 January 1988. p. 13. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
14. "The New Zealand team". The Press. 10 February 1988. p. 45. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
15. "N.Z. skier in 'bad fall'". The Press. 19 February 1988. p. 22. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
16. Hutchinson, Peter (20 February 1988). "Kiwis finish training". The Press. p. 31. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
17. "Tough Olympic standards 'preferable'". The Press. 3 March 1988. p. 38. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
18. Hutchinson, Peter (24 February 1988). "Caribbean Cup to N.Z. pair". The Press. p. 33. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
19. Dunbar, Tim (1 March 1988). "N.Z. bobsledders in creditable finish". The Press. p. 46. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
20. Dunbar, Tim (15 December 2005). "DePape to lead curlers". The Press. p. 8.

External links

• Owen Pinnell at Olympedia
• Owen Pinnell at the New Zealand Olympic Committee
• Owen Pinnell at the New Zealand Olympic Committee

• 1947 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Auckland
• Auckland University of Technology alumni
• New Zealand male bobsledders
• Olympic bobsledders for New Zealand
• Bobsledders at the 1988 Winter Olympics
• New Zealand emigrants to Canada
• Canadian business executives
• 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen