Biography
Olen York is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, the Kermit McGinnis Distinguished Professor in the Lewis College of Business, and the Director of Entrepreneurship Education in the Marketing, Management Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship Department. Olen teaches topics that focus on the entrepreneurial mindset, team formation, utilization of creativity and design thinking to problem-solve, business model development, collaborative innovation, and the utilization of intellectual property as sustainable competitive advantage. Olen also has a variety of research interests, including entrepreneurial pedagogy, innovation and intellectual property strategy development, and entrepreneurial branding, marketing, and the relationship to intellectual property assets. Olen is a co-Founding Director of the Innovating for Impact Center for Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation (iCenter), which provides curriculum and programming for students and the community.
In addition, Olen serves as the organizer and overseer of the WV Innovation and Business Model Competition that extends extra-curricular opportunities to students to develop and pitch a business concept to a panel of judges for important feedback, opportunity for potential prize money awards, and network for potential investment resources. Moreover, Olen has proudly served as the Dean of the WV Governor’s School of Entrepreneurship for the previous five years (2020-2024).
Olen is a registered patent attorney and maintains a small law practice that focuses on the counseling of intellectual property, including the acquisition of patents, trademarks, and discussions regarding licensing and litigation of such assets.