IGOR M. OLENICOFF
Founder, Owner, President
Olen Properties Corp.
Newport Beach
Born in Mazandaran, Iran
Age: 76
Lives in Laguna Beach (Emerald Bay)
NATALIA OSTENSEN
Executive Vice President
Olen Properties Corp.
Newport Beach
Born in Laguna Beach
Age: 37
Lives in Laguna Beach
WHY: Olen owns nearly 8 million square feet of commercial real estate and is Orange County’s second-largest office landlord after Irvine Co. Igor Olenicoff’s estimated $4.6 billion fortune makes him OC’s second-wealthiest resident, trailing only Donald Bren. Daughter Natalia oversees much of company’s day-to-day operations.
HOW: Olen founded by Igor in 1973. Bulk of offices are in OC, while portfolio of over 16,000 apartments largely outside area, in Nevada, Florida, Georgia, Arizona. Along with office, industrial buildings, owns marinas, airport hangars, restaurants, a golf course. Has nearly 2,000 tenants, 380 buildings in OC. Area holdings include low-rise offices, two office towers near airport, Olen Pointe office campus in Brea.
RECENT: “Finding land or acquisition candidates in Orange County is a difficult task,” Igor said last November, explaining Olen’s late 2018 spree outside the area, apartments in the Southeast valued at about $170 million combined. Atlanta’s a growing market for the company’s apartment portfolio (nearly $500 million spent there the past five years), and Nashville, Tenn. is a new market for them. More apartment deals on the way.
QUOTABLE: “The good news is that our entire portfolio in Orange County is at 95% or better leased,” Olenicoff told the Business Journal last November. “So we are quite pleased with our portfolio’s performance here, and also realize that we have had to look elsewhere for growth in the past couple of years.”
PERSONAL: Igor born in northern Iran when under Soviet occupation during WWII. Parents left Soviet Union for Iran after Russian Revolution due to ties with Czar Nicholas II. Went to Iranian mining town, came to U.S. when Igor 15. Worked way through University of Southern California, graduated with multiple degrees. Worked for Shell, Touche Ross, Motown Records, where he was an accountant for Berry Gordy. Founding partner in real estate syndicator Gemini Pacific. Vice president operations at Dunn Properties before starting Olen. Wife, Jeanne. Natalia USC grad, plays key role in company’s leasing, acquisition activities. Andrei Olenicoff Memorial Foundation, charity for eye health, blindness cure, in memory of Igor’s late son. Local restaurant at Olen’s Century Centre office complex named after Andrei; family unveiled sculpture in 2017 in his memory at Heisler Park overlooking Divers Cove in Laguna Beach.
