Neil Olshey (born January 10, 1965) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

executive who most recently served as the general manager of the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). Prior to that, he was general manager and vice president of basketball operations of the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

Early life and education

Olshey is a graduate of Le Moyne College in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

where he played on the D3 lacrosse team. Neil grew up in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

, but attended Xavier High School in Manhattan.

Career

Olshey originally sought to become a professional actor following his graduation from college, and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to pursue this career. He appeared in television commercials and print advertisements, and had roles on ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'', ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

'', and '' Loving'' before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Olshey later served as director of player development for SFX Sports Group, Inc., where he created, organized and conducted NBA pre-draft training camps that produced 15 lottery picks, 25 first-round selections and 57 current NBA players. He was also an assistant coach at Artesia High School in Lakewood, California, where he coached future

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and NBA player Jason Kapono. Prior to the start of the 2003–04 season, he joined the

as director of player personnel and became an assistant coach at the beginning of the 2004–05 season. Prior to the start of the 2008–09 season, Olshey was elevated to the position of assistant general manager. He was named general manager on March 9, 2010, upon the firing of Mike Dunleavy Sr. In June 2012, he became the general manager of the

. He appeared as himself on the IFC series '' Portlandia'' in episode 7 "Trail Blazers" of season 4. After a month-long investigation into allegations of the Trail Blazers organization being a toxic environment created by Olshey, the team fired him on December 3, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olshey, Neil 1965 births Living people American sports executives and administrators Le Moyne College alumni Los Angeles Clippers assistant coaches Los Angeles Clippers executives NBA general managers People from Flushing, Queens Portland Trail Blazers executives Xavier High School (New York City) alumni