EchoStar Satellite Services President Dean Olmstead Passes Away

Dean Olmstead, president of EchoStar Satellite Services L.L.C., has passed away after a hard-fought battle with cancer. Olmstead joined EchoStar shortly after the company’s spin-off from DISH Network in January 2008, and was instrumental in building the foundation and guiding the strategic course for the company’s then-nascent satellite operations.

“Olmstead will be remembered as a true legend in the satellite industry and will remain an eternal inspiration for our employees,” says Mike Dugan, CEO and president of EchoStar Corporation. “Olmstead was a visionary who helped reshape the entire industry. His accomplishments at EchoStar and through his esteemed career have created the base upon which others will build for years to come.”

Before joining the company in 2008, Olmstead served as an advisor to Loral Space & Communications on strategic and growth opportunities for its satellite service businesses and served on its board of directors. Additionally, he was president of Arrowhead Global Solutions, president and CEO of SES Americom and held leadership positions with DirecTV Japan, NASA and the U.S. State Department.

Olmstead’s list of accomplishments include executing the first foreign acquisition of a U.S. satellite operator, procuring and launching numerous communications satellites, installing the world’s first all-digital satellite broadcast center in Japan, helping develop the first broadband system for business jets, and managing development of the first U.S. Ka-band spot beam satellite for NASA, among others. He was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1997, was an Individual Patron of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, and has served on several Federal Government advisory committees.

Olmstead held a B.S. degree in Economics-Mathematics from Western Washington University, an M.S. in Engineering Economic Systems from Stanford University, and completed Ph.D. studies in Economics at The American University.

Olmstead’s family has requested that donations for scholarships in remembrance of Olmstead be sent to the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation or the Society of Satellite Professionals International. A family service will be held in Washington State and a date will be announced soon for a memorial event in the Washington, D.C., area.