Leslie John Ollila (born March 22, 1943) is an evangelist who served as the second president (1984-2002) and then chancellor (2002-2013) of

Northland Baptist Bible College Northland Scholars Academy (formerly Northland International University), is a college prep high school, formerly a college, in Dunbar, Wisconsin. History Northland Mission Camp (now Northland Camp and Conference Center)was founded on December ...

(1976-2015), later Northland International University.

Biography

Ollila was born to

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

parents in Gratiot Location,

Houghton County, Michigan Houghton County is a county in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 37,361. The county seat and largest city is Houghton. Both the county and the city were named for Michigan State geolog ...

, a copper-mining company town in the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

. At the time, Gratiot was a rough-and-tumble place where drinking was the "main problem." Ollila became an outstanding athlete on the Calumet High School football and track teams and was devoted to hunting, trapping, and heavy machinery. During his high school years, Ollila experienced a religious conversion under the mentoring of Pastor Charles Hart of the First Baptist Church of Calumet. After graduating from high school in 1961, Ollila worked in the logging industry and as a tree topper; but moving to Detroit, he "surrendered his life…to be a preacher." Following his future wife to

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, he overcame a speech impediment and gained the respect of his work supervisors as a hard worker and natural leader. Ollila served as an interim minister at a Baptist mission church in an area of Greenville known as Bootleg Corner. After graduation, he became youth pastor at Calvary Baptist Church,

Roseville, Michigan Roseville is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan, and is a part of the Metro Detroit area. The population was 47,299 at the 2010 census. Until 1958, Roseville was a part of Erin Township. History The first permanent post o ...

(1968–75), where he proved to be charismatic youth counselor and evangelist. He later served as an evangelist with Life Action Ministries. In 1984, having impressed inventor and businessman, Paul Patz (1911–2000), the founder of

, Dunbar, Wisconsin, Ollila was offered the presidency of the small school. During his term of office (1984–2002), the school grew from 125 to over 600 students. In 2013, Ollila began "Building Great Leaders," a "ministry emphasizing servant leadership to pastors, churches, colleges and other Christian ministries both in the U.S. and overseas."

Books

*''Reclaiming Authentic Fundamentalism'' by Douglas R. McLachlan and Les Ollila (1993) *''Manna: A Daily Devotional'' by Les Ollila, Kraig Keck and Shannon Brown (Jan 1, 2002) *''God's Glory in Clay Pots'' by Les Ollila, Sam Horn and Kitty Foth-Regner (Sep 1, 2009) *''Manna: a Daily Devotional Guide'' by Les Ollila (1977) *''Proteens: Top Priority Manna: A Daily Devotional. Book 2 (Top Priority Manna)'' by Les Ollila (2003) *''Foundation: For youth programs'' by Les Ollila (1981)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ollila, Les 1943 births Living people People from Houghton County, Michigan American people of Finnish descent Christian fundamentalism American evangelists Heads of universities and colleges in the United States People from Marinette County, Wisconsin People from Roseville, Michigan Baptists from Michigan