Chris T. Sullivan (born February 15, 1948, in

Lake City, Florida Lake City is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 12,329, up from 12,046 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistica ...

) is one of the founders of

Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North America, South America, Asia, and Aus ...

and OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC. He also formerly held the titles of

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

. He is currently a board member at Bloomin' Brands.

Early life and education

Sullivan attended Montgomery Blair High School in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

and then the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

, where he graduated with a BS in business and economics in 1972. He was a member of the

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...

fraternity. Sullivan's restaurant management career began in 1972 as restaurant manager trainee in the Steak & Ale restaurant group.http://www.honorflight93.org/join/?fa=chris-sullivan , Chris T. Sullivan - Biography, HonorFlight93.org

Career

Sullivan and co-founders Bob Basham, Tim Gannon and Trudy Cooper opened the first Outback Steakhouse in March 1988. His management of the company saw the chain expand into a worldwide company, with more than 900 restaurants worldwide. He also expanded the brand into numerous subsidiaries, including Carrabba's Italian Grill, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Bonefish Grill, Paul Lee's Chinese Kitchen and several other hospitality-related businesses. From February 1991 to March 2005, Sullivan was

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc. (now called OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC). From August 1987 to February 1991, he was

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the company. In an interview with Inc.com, Sullivan stated his biggest mistake in his career was the way he handled the rollout of Carrabba's Italian Grill. “''With Outback we would approach a new market by developing one new restaurant in the first year and two or three more in the second year. With Carrabba's, we developed four, five, and six restaurants in the first year. We should have gone in and made sure our franchisee partners had opened their first restaurant in a successful manner before we started with a second one.”, he told the interviewer, going on to reveal that not getting the people side right at the restaurant caused major problems that took two years to correct and “a lot of money”''". In 2009, he was acting mentor to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

-based

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...

Café Caturra. In recent times, Sullivan has moved into investment; in April 2015, Sullivan led a $2.2 million funding round for the tech startup SiteZeus, a company that automates the site selection process for the restaurant, retail and hospitality industries.http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2015/04/22/bloomins-chris-sullivan-leads-2-2m-investment-in.html, Bloomin's Chris Sullivan leads $2.2M investment in SiteZeus, BizJournals.com, 22 April 2015 In addition to his current roles, Sullivan serves several organisations in various positions including Florida Council of 100 Executive Committee, the Florida Chamber of Commerce; the board of for the Florida Council on Economic Education, Lowry Park Zoological Endowment Foundation; chairman's board of

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to "create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth". Adult volunteers are matched with children from ag ...

; co-chair and board of Kentucky Speedway; the advisory board for the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

; and vice chairman for Scripps Florida's funding board; and the Employment Policies Institute. In 2014, Sullivan was inducted into th
Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame

Personal life

Sullivan has a passion for golf and along with Outback co-founder Bob Basham and friend Bob Merritt, he established a golfer's club in 1997, Old Memorial Golf Club. He lives in

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and has two children, Alex and Ashley.

References

External links

OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Chris T. 1948 births Living people American chief executives of food industry companies University of Kentucky alumni 20th-century American businesspeople Sigma Alpha Epsilon members