Chris Ondaatje

Chris Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka and educated in the United Kingdom, before moving to Canada in his 20s. A businessman by trade, he earned considerable wealth as a stockbroker, and also owned a successful publishing company. At the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics, he represented Canada in the four-man bobsleigh, alongside Monty Gordon, David Hobart, and Gordon Currie.

In 1995, Ondaatje retired from the world of business and expanded his reputation as a philanthropist and art collector, in addition to writing travel books about Africa and Asia. For his philanthropic work, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2000 and made a Knight Bachelor in 2003. He was also an Officer of the Order of Canada, and the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize was named in his honour.