Here's who will lead Utah's 2034 Winter Games

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson will run the day-to-day operations of the 2034 Winter Games, for at least the next three years.

Wilson, a Davis County developer who stepped down from the Utah Legislature in November 2023 to make a run for the U.S. Senate, is the CEO of the new organizing committee for the state's next Olympics and a vice chair of its board.

"We've got our work cut out for us," Wilson told the Deseret News before Friday's formal announcement, describing how he'd recently rewatched the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Olympics, held at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium.

His hope, Wilson said, is that Utah's new generation of Olympic organizers will be able "to rival those Games or to maybe even slightly exceed them in terms of their execution."

Joining Wilson in a top leadership role at the organizing committee is Fraser Bullock. Bullock will serve as executive chair and president of the board, involved in operations in addition to oversight. He was chief operating officer of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and the bid's president and CEO.

Steve Starks, will be a vice chairman of the board with Wilson and an adviser to both Wilson and Bullock. Starks is the CEO of The Larry H. Miller Company and the former president of the Utah Jazz. He is also Gov. Spencer Cox's Olympics adviser and was the bid committee's vice chairman.

Bullock said he "couldn't be happier with the way things have sorted out." The governor had repeatedly made it clear he wanted Bullock, who will turn 70 this year, to lead the Games but that a succession plan needed to be in place.

All three will be unpaid volunteers and were selected by Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton.

Both Bullock's and Wilson's terms will come up for renewal in three years and Starks' in four. In three years, an international search is set to be launched for a paid CEO to continue through 2034, but Bullock said Wilson "obviously would be a leading candidate for that permanent role."

Wilson said he's excited to play a part in putting on another Olympics.

"For the next few years, CEO. Maybe the CEO through the finish line. We'll see," he said. "I had a season of my life in political and public service. My entire life as an adult has been running and operating business and organizations. I'm looking forward to using my skills as an entrepreneur and a business owner and a leader to help execute the best Games the world has ever seen."

The board's 25 members include representatives from the international and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic committees, skier Lindsey Vonn, figure skater Sarah Hughes, Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club owner Ryan Smith, Utah House Chief of Staff Abby Osborne and Southern Utah University President Mindy Benson.

The 10 Utah members on the board were chosen by Bullock, Wilson and Starks.

The governor and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall will be honorary board chairs, and the House speaker and Senate president, honorary vice chairs, all nonvoting positions. Four-time Olympic speedskater Catherine Raney Norman, who chaired the bid committee, will be a senior executive at the organizing committee and head up a new athletes commission.

The board is set to hold its first meeting on Feb. 27, with a goal of having the organizing committee up and running by March 1. A separate steering committee with an additional 32 members that are yet to be named is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

The official name of the new entity in charge of putting on what will add up to a $4 billion privately funded event in nine years is the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. So far, there's no catchy acronym like SLOC in 2002, which stood for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee and was pronounced to rhyme with block.

How Utah's new Olympic organizing committee will run

The new organizing committee, known as an OCOG (Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games), is still in what Bullock called the foundational phase, laying the groundwork for the new entity as well as engaging with Utahns and readying "the next generation of leadership."

Bullock has decades of Olympic experience to share that started when he was hired by Mitt Romney to help run the 2002 Winter Games and continued through years of positioning the state to host another Olympics before last July's International Olympic Committee vote.

"We've got some exceptional talent who are very experienced in their respective areas, but the Games just has different expertise. One of my key responsibilities is to share and pass along that expertise," Bullock said, to Wilson and Starks as well as "many more" in the coming years.

Having Wilson, 56, take over responsibility for running the organizing committee day to day is, Bullock said, "a pure delight, because he can worry about the nuts and bolts, and I don't have to worry about that at all. I can focus on kind of the big picture and the big issues."

In 2002, Romney was both CEO of the organizing committee and president of its board. In the Olympic sports world, the positions are typically separated as they will be for 2034, with the president seen as the leader of the organization.

Bullock, Wilson and Starks are dividing up responsibilities, with Wilson managing the organizing committee's day-to-day operations, Bullock driving strategy and handling relations with IOC and other sports entities, and Starks dealing with marketing and branding.

Decisions will be made collaboratively, Bullock said, with the board having the final say. Their work has already gotten underway behind the scenes as the final details of the organizing committee were put in place. The initial deadline for forming the organizing committee was last Dec. 24.

"Continuity planning, succession planning, is really hard," Starks said. "Most organizations stumble. I would just say that it's remarkable that you have the seamless transition and continuity here where Fraser's still involved."

Bullock and Wilson will "work hand in glove with each other," Starks said, calling the structure, "the Utah model, where there's people that have that culture of putting pride or ego aside and joining in for the greater cause. I think that's on full display here."

Both Wilson and Starks praised Bullock's work to bring the Winter Games back to Utah.

The state is playing a bigger role in the Olympics this time around, with the governor rather than the Salt Lake City mayor signing the host contract with the IOC that puts taxpayers on the hook for any shortfalls. Just like in 2002, Games funding is set to come entirely from private sources, largely the sale of broadcast rights, sponsorships and tickets.

But because the 2028 Summer Games are in another U.S. city, Los Angeles, Utah organizers will have to wait until after those Games to sell domestic sponsorships, instead depending on raising money from private donors.

Wilson said the support already being shown by business and community leaders has been "overwhelming," so there's "zero percent chance" the organizing committee would seek financial help from Utah taxpayers.

"There's nowhere in the world more prepared to host a Winter Olympics than Utah, with our venues already stood up," Wilson said, citing the facilities from 2002 that have been maintained for Utah's next Olympics. Plus, he said, organizers have more than the traditional seven years to get ready to host.

What's coming from Utah's Olympic organizers

"We've got this amazing and interesting opportunity," Wilson said, pledging to reach out to Utahns "from the top of the state to the bottom, not just in our venue communities but in every corner of the state to let in particular our youth understand the importance of the Olympics, the importance of sport and get them engaged and excited."

He said the Games will have a "big focus on mental health‚" an issue that continues to be a focus in the sports world. Over the next 12 months, Wilson said initiatives aimed at getting the nation's sport community involved will also be rolled out.

Starks said the Olympics are a catalyst for bringing Utahns together.

"The next decade will really define Utah's future. And we have incredible things coming online and an opportunity to ensure that trajectory is what we want it to be, not only our brand on the world stage, but also what it means for the citizens of the state," he said, promising, "we will all work to create a vision for what this will look like in 2034."

In addition to the board, Bullock said there will be a smaller executive board as well as a steering committee and "many" yet to be announced subcommittees that involve "dozens and dozens of people," including representatives of venue communities. "There is more coming."

Romney, though, won't have a formal role in organizing the state's next Olympics. After leading the 2002 Games, he moved on to a political career that included running for president and being elected to the U.S. Senate from Utah. Romney did not seek reelection last year.

Wilson, who sought his Senate seat, said Romney's "role is to buy a bunch of tickets in 2034 and come enjoy the foundation of the Games he created and also be someone we can go to. ... He's a valued resource."

Related topics