Christopher Ondaatje

Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje /ɒnˈdɑːtʃiː/, OC, CBE (born 22 February 1933) is a Sri Lankan born Canadian-English businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada. Ondaatje is the older brother of author Michael Ondaatje and lives either in Chester, Nova Scotia, or the United Kingdom.

Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to a Burgher family of Dutch and Indian origin, Ondaatje went to Blundell's School in the United Kingdom. His name comes from an Indian ancestor called Ondaatchi from Thanjavur, South India. After his alcoholic father lost the family fortune, Ondaatje had to leave school a year from graduation. In 1956, Ondaatje emigrated to Canada, arriving in Toronto with virtually no money. He quickly began to rebuild the family fortune, becoming a wealthy stockbroker, going on to be one of the three founding members of Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon. He became a multi-millionaire in the publishing industry by founding the Pagurian Press, which he later sold to the Bronfman family.

He represented Canada in the four-man bobsled at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Although the first Canadian men's team won gold in the event, Ondaatje's team finished 14th out of 28 competitors.

Ondaatje is a prominent philanthropist; among the institutions he has helped are: The National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Geographical Society, Somerset County Cricket Club, Blundell's School, The Sir Christopher Ondaatje Devon Cricket Centre at Exeter University,Lakefield College School, Dalhousie University, the National Ballet School, the Royal Ontario Museum (the Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery), Massey College in the University of Toronto, Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Chester Playhouse.

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