David Peter O'Brien (born 9 September 1941) is a Canadian lawyer and company director. An Irish Quebecer, O'Brien was born and educated in Montreal, and began his career in 1967 with the law firm Ogilvy Renault. In 1977 he moved to Calgary and was appointed

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

Petro-Canada Petro-Canada (colloquially known as Petro-Can) is a retail and wholesale marketing brand subsidiary of Suncor Energy. Until 1991, it was a federal Crown corporation (a state-owned enterprise). In August 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor En ...

, with whom he remained until 1989. In 1990 was appointed president of Pan-Canadian Petroleum, and in 1992 he was elected chairman. He ceded the presidency in 1994 to become president of its holding company, Canadian Pacific Limited, and in 1995 was also elected as chairman. O'Brien is best known for overseeing the breakup of Canadian Pacific Limited into independent companies, which was completed in September 2001. In 2002, still chairman of PanCanadian, he merged that company with the Alberta Energy Company to create

EnCana Encana Corporation was a Canadian independent petroleum company that existed from 2002 to 2020. The company, stylised as EnCana until 2010, was created by David P. O'Brien of PanCanadian Petroleum and Gwyn Morgan of the Alberta Energy Company ...

, the world's largest independent petroleum company at the time. Subsequently he served as EnCana's chairman from 2002 to 2013. From 2004 to 2013, he was chairman of the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...

. O'Brien has held directorships with several other major Canadian corporations, including

Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canada-based brewery based in Montreal and was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Canadian operati ...

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

, TransCanada Pipelines, and

Vale A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municip ...

Education and Career

O'Brien obtained a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Economics from

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

and a Bachelor of Civil Law (1965) from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. At McGill he was selected as the Articles Editor for the ''

McGill Law Journal The ''McGill Law Journal'' is a student-run legal publication at McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal. It is a not-for-profit corporation independent of the Faculty and it is managed exclusively by students. The ''Journal'' also publishes t ...

''. In addition to his current role as chairman of

, O'Brien is a board member at Enerplus, Range Royalty, and Spur Resources and has previously served as a

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 ...

Molson Coors Brewing Company Molson Coors Beverage Company is a Canadian-American multinational drink and brewing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 through the merger of Molson of Canada, and Coors of the United States. In 2016, ...

TransCanada Corporation TC Energy Corporation (formerly TransCanada Corporation) is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, ...

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a global chain of luxury hotel that operates more than 70 properties worldwide, with a strong presence in Canada. The company originated from two hotel businesses established in the late 19th century, the Canadian Pac ...

, Inco Limited and the C. D. Howe Institute. From 1995 to 2002, he was President and CEO of Canadian Pacific Railways Limited. In May 2004, O’Brien was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. In 2005, he endowed the O'Brien Fellowships in the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism at McGill University's Faculty of Law. He also served as the

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2010. In January 2009, O'Brien was named an officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

"for his contributions as a respected corporate leader, and his support for post-secondary education across Canada". In May 2025, he was awarded an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, David P. Businesspeople from Calgary Businesspeople from Montreal Officers of the Order of Canada Directors of Royal Bank of Canada Chancellors of Concordia University Anglophone Quebec people Living people Canadian chairpersons of corporations McGill University Faculty of Law alumni 1941 births