Draft:Joe O'Donnell

O'Donnell was born on April 19, 1944. He grew up in Everett, Massachusetts.^[4]

O'Donnell graduated with honors from Malden Catholic High School where he was the captain of the football and baseball teams. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy for a post-graduate year. He received a scholarship from Harvard. There he played football and baseball. He then received an MA from Harvard Business School.^[4]

After graduating from Harvard Business School, O'Donnell became an associate dean of students at HBS. In the mid-1970s, he became the head of what would later become the Boston Culinary Group.^[4]

In 2001, O'Donnell tried to purchase the Boston Red Sox as part of a group. He and developer Steve Karp attempted to partner with John Henry, the owner of the Florida Marlins, and Tom Werner, the former owner of the San Diego Padres. After differences in opinion about control, Werner and Henry submitted a bid themselves which was accepted in December 2001.^[5]

In 40 years he helped raise over $500 million to charities, including The Joey Fund.^[4]

In 1974, Joe O'Donnell's son Joey was born with the genetic disorder Cystic fibrosis (CF). In ____, he founded The Joey Fund to fund treatments for CF. Joey died of the disease in 1986 at the age of twelve. ^[4]

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In 1970, O'Donnell married Katherine Kelliher.^[4]