Kristin Olszak

Chief Financial Officer & Board Director

Kristin Olszak began her career at HELIX Environmental Planning as an accountant more than 30 years ago, following a position teaching English in Japan and also serving as an Environmental Programs Coordinator for Arizona Public Service. She had just relocated to San Diego and, even before getting fully moved in, Kristin connected with the company’s founder, Dave Claycomb, while answering his classified ad at a local payphone.

Kristin became HELIX’s sixth employee and has helped guide the company’s growth and strategic planning process ever since. Asked what her favorite experience has been, she cites the challenges of learning new modalities and strategies as HELIX has grown from five to 280 employees.

In her current role, Kristin is responsible for overseeing financial, accounting, human resources, marketing, information technology, and administrative operations. Additionally, she directs strategic financial planning, capital structure, treasury management, and growth in support of current corporate business areas and Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) reviews. Kristin was instrumental in guiding the firm through their transition to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2004. Since then, she has continued to manage the ESOP for the firm.

Born and raised in Arizona, Kristin earned her bachelor’s in finance from Arizona State University. She also holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

You can reach Kristin at KristinO@helixepi.com.