John O'Leary | #1 National Bestselling Author & Speaker Expected to Die. Now Teaching Others How to Truly Live.

John O'Leary

#1 National Bestselling Author & Speaker Expected to Die. Now Teaching Others How to Truly Live.

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St. Louis, MO, US

John O'Leary
Biography

In 1987, John O'Leary was a curious nine-year-old boy. Playing with fire and gasoline, John created a massive explosion in his home and was burned on 100% of his body. He was given less than a 1% chance to live.

This epic story of survival was first showcased in his parents' book, Overwhelming Odds, in 2006. Originally printing 200 copies for friends and family, his parents have sold 60,000+ copies. It was this book that first invited John to embrace his miraculous recovery and share it with the world.

John inspires 50,000+ people at 100+ events each year. He speaks to companies and organizations across industries, such as: sales, healthcare, safety, marketing, finance, faith, education and insurance.

Consistently described as "the best speaker we've ever had," John receives nearly 100% of his engagements from referrals. His schedule is a testament to the power of his message and who he is as an individual. His emotional story-telling, unexpected humor, and authenticity make each of his presentations truly transformational.

John's first book ON FIRE: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life was an instant #1 National Bestseller; 200,000+ copies have sold and it has been translated into 12 languages. John's Live Inspired Podcast is top-rated on Apple Podcast and has more than 2,000,000 downloads.

His second book IN AWE: Rediscover Your Childlike Wonder to Unleash Inspiration, Meaning and Joy will be published by Penguin Random House in May 2020.

John considers his greatest success to be his marriage to his wife Beth, their four children and his relationships with friends and family.

John O'Leary
Featured Videos

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Sizzle Reel
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John O'Leary Introduction
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The Power of One
Time 16:19

Ignite your Life!

In this presentation, John inspires audiences to look deeply within themselves, discover who they are, the talents they possess, the challenges they’ve endured, and their ability to grow through adversity. Through this program, audiences are ignited with a life full of possibility not yet even imagined!

What might happen if you embraced your scars, mistakes, and missteps – and utilized the lessons learned to propel you forward? What impact could you have if you worked in perfect symphony with your team – and created an impact far greater than any single individual? How significant would your life be if you discovered passion and meaning in your life – and tapped into the resulting increase in energy, persistence and creativity?

John O’Leary powerfully reveals how our greatest challenges can be transformed into the foundation for outstanding growth. Through emotional story-telling and great humor, John empowers audiences to carefully consider how they can author a legacy of significance. The three critical components include:

Personal Awareness: Identify who I am, strengths and weaknesses, and roles I’ve accepted

Clarity of Purpose: Discover personal mission; then inspire others toward excellence

Personal Mastery: Freedom to choose the pathway which leads to significance

The Power of One

Journey with John O’Leary as he powerfully celebrates the possibility of how you can serve, love and impact more profoundly in your own life.

Personal accountability involves every aspect of our lives – our thoughts, actions, behaviors, and values. John reveals how pride in one’s own life wildly impacts others personally and professionally. Of critical importance here is discovering that personal accountability and significant results in life don’t come from a better spouse, different job, or new manager – they are only realized from within.

Safety

As John O’Leary so intimately knows, one poor decision can dramatically affect the rest of your life. This poor decision not only impacts the life of the individual injured, it also impacts their entire family, organization and community.

Leading the mission to eliminate all employee accidents, John challenges audiences in manufacturing and utilities to improve their safety by personal accountability – one employee, one decision at a time. While many safety programs focus on what not to do in order to not get injured, John O’Leary focuses on what to do in order to work safe, lead others, and thrive in life.

Insurance/Financial

John and his family have experienced the incredible impact proper financial and insurance planning can have. John’s father, Denny, has been living with Parkinson’s disease for the past 25 years.

It is Denny’s disability insurance policy that has sustained his family’s standard of living.
Because of John’s message, financial representatives and agents are energized with new passion for their careers. A favorite speaker in network office meetings and Home Office trainings, John also creates memorable client appreciation events. Instead of sharing the typical economic forecast, John helps deepen your relationships with your clients by providing a unique experience of personal triumph and hope.

“I can assure you no one, brokers and clients alike, will be disappointed when they hear John speak….it will be one of the most memorable evenings you will have…the good will you gain from your clients is worth every bit and more….”

Jim Breen, Senior Vice President, Investments, Wells Fargo Advisors, Fort Worth, Texas

John O'Leary
Featured Books

On Fireby John O'Leary

On Fire

by John O'Leary
In the bestselling tradition of Brene Brown's Daring Greatly and Nick Vujicic's Life Without Limits comes a rousing 7-step plan for living a life on fire, filled with hope and possibility--from an inspirational speaker who survived a near-fatal fire at the age of nine and now runs a successful business inspiring people all around the world.

When John O'Leary was nine years old, he was almost killed in a devastating house fire. With burns on one hundred percent of his body, O'Leary mustered an almost unimaginable amount of inner strength just to survive the ordeal. The insights he gained through this experience and the heroes who stepped into his life to help him through the journey--his family, the medical staff, and total strangers--changed his life. Now he is committed to living life to the fullest and inspiring others to do the same.

An incredible and emotionally honest account of triumph over tragedy, On Fire contains O'Leary's reflections on being that little boy, the life-giving choices made then, and the resulting lessons he learned. O'Leary very clearly shares that without the right people providing the right guidance, at the right time, he never would have made it through those five months in the hospital, let alone the years that followed as he struggled to regain mobility, embrace his story, and ignite clarity of his life's purpose.

On Fire encourages us to seize the power to choose our path and transform our lives from mundane to extraordinary. Once we stop thinking solely on the big moments in our lives, we can begin to focus on those smaller opportunities that tend to pass us by. These are the events--the inflection points in our lives--that can determine how we feel about life now, where we are headed in the future, and how many lives we can impact along the way. We can't always choose the path we walk, but we can choose how we walk it. Empowering, inspiring, remarkably honest, and heartfelt, O'Leary's strength and incredible spirit shine through on every page.

In Aweby John O'Leary

In Awe

by John O'Leary
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The #1 bestselling author of On Fire shows us how to recapture and harness our childlike sense of wonder in order to become more engaged, successful, and fulfilled.

"Engaging . . . O'Leary encourages us to see the world through a child's eyes."--Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie

There once was a time when we joyfully raised our hands to answer questions, connected easily with others, believed that anything was possible, and fearlessly jumped into new experiences. A time when we viewed each day not as something to endure, but as a marvelous gift to explore and savor--when we danced through our lives in awe of the ordinary moments and eager for the promise of tomorrow.

Unfortunately, that's far from our experience today. Instead, we feel disconnected and jaded. Social media reminds us that we don't measure up, and the mainstream media barrages us with constant negativity. Many of us find ourselves caught in a life of dogged responsibility and mind-numbing repetition. The daily struggle to earn a living has caused us to lose the sense of wonder with which we once greeted every day.

In his new book, bestselling author John O'Leary invites us to consider that it is possible to once again navigate the world as a child does. Identifying five senses children innately possess and that we've lost touch with as we age, O'Leary shares emotional, humorous, and inspirational stories intertwined with fascinating new research showing how each of us can reclaim our childlike joy, and why doing so will change how we interact with the world.

In Awe reveals how we can regain that ability to see fresh insights, reach for new solutions, and live our best lives.

John O'Leary
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Live Inspired Podcast: Recognizing Greatness During COVID-19 Turmoil (Monday Moments ep. 237)

On this week’s Live Inspired Podcast Monday Moment segment, John O’Leary recognizes greatness during the COVID-19 turmoil.Join me every Monday for a quick burst of inspiration...
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JFK's Take on Coronavirus?

With ever-expanding anxiety around coronavirus, it can feel as if the end is near, there is no reason for hope and we are all doomed.  Just go home, wash your hands and wait...
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