Excellent! Jake was an amazing and dynamic speaker. He was undoubtedly a draw for our event. He spent the entire day with us - speaking, golfing, interacting with our guests - truly generous with his time. Such a wonderful person!
Jake Olson
Inspiring Blind Football Player for USC
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Jacksonville, FL, United States
Jake Olson
Biography
Jake Olson’s story of overcoming retinoblastoma and going blind at the age of 12 has served as an inspiration to many people across the world. Jake is best known as the first completely blind player in college football history. He famously long-snapped a successful point after try for the University of Southern California (USC) against Western Michigan on September 2nd, 2017, a story which received viral national attention from ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, Fox Sports, Hallmark, TBN, The Golf Channel, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, etc.
While Jake will always be a proud USC Trojan, his story is far more than a simple 15-minutes-of-fame. After graduating from USC 2019, Jake became a full-time motivational speaker, sharing his story hundreds of events, including clients such as AIG, Ball Corporation, Bank of America, JLL, Google, Invesco, Microsoft, Mondolez, Nationwide, and SpaceX. He is also the founder of a start-up talent booking company, Engage, which helps companies book keynote speakers and athletes for events. The accomplishment Jake is most proud of is his family- he and his wife, Audrey, welcomed their first child in January 2025.
Jake is sought after as a speaker because he blends a great sense of humor (audiences laugh an average of 18 times during a 50-minute talk (yes, he and his team actually measure this)) with powerful insights that inspire audience members to reframe how they respond to adversity, develop a more positive mindset, and break through self-imposed limitations to achieve at their full potential in their personal and professional lives. Jake customizes his talk for each client to ensure he aligns his message with the event theme and impacts the audience in the way event planners intended.
Jake Olson
Featured Keynote Programs
Finding The Setup In The Setback
Jake’s flagship talk shares his incredible life journey of battling cancer eight times, going blind at the age of 12, making history in college football, and winning the USGA Adaptive Open golf tournament. Using a mix of personal stories (including encounters with Kobe Bryant and Tuger Woods), a lot of humor, and some unique life philosophies, Jake helps audience members change how they perceive adversity. He helps audiences realize that often, what feels like a significant setback can be a setup for something much greater in life if they take the right approach to confronting their adversity. During this talk, the audience will laugh, think, and maybe even cry a little bit. They will leave more grateful and with an entirely new way to perceive and tackle adversity. This talk is a great fit for any event planner trying to help their audience develop more grit, level up their productivity, or improve their perspective and accountability.
The Power Of Possibility
Unlocking Success Through Teamwork & Creativity
Blindness reshaped Jake Olson's life at age twelve, but his determination to succeed remained unshaken. In this talk, Jake reveals how his will to achieve inspired those around him to innovate and adapt, creating extraordinary possibilities. From a math teacher devising methods to teach Jake calculus, to teammates crafting a unique system for him to play football, to his father guiding him to excel in golf, Jake’s journey highlights the transformative power of teamwork, creativity, and inclusion.
Ideal for leaders, managers, and teams seeking to foster collaboration, spark innovation, and embrace diverse perspectives, this talk delivers actionable strategies to inspire resilience and adaptability. Attendees will leave energized and equipped to recognize potential, overcome obstacles, and unlock the power of possibility within their own teams.
Jake Olson
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