Christopher Ondaatje

Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje /ɒnˈdɑːtʃiː/, OC, CBE (born 22 February 1933) is a Sri Lankan born Canadian-English businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada. Ondaatje is the older brother of author Michael Ondaatje and lives either in Chester, Nova Scotia, or the United Kingdom.

Overview

Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to a Burgher family of Dutch and Indian origin, Ondaatje went to Blundell's School in the United Kingdom. His name comes from an Indian ancestor called Ondaatchi from Thanjavur, South India. After his alcoholic father lost the family fortune, Ondaatje had to leave school a year from graduation. In 1956, Ondaatje emigrated to Canada, arriving in Toronto with virtually no money. He quickly began to rebuild the family fortune, becoming a wealthy stockbroker, going on to be one of the three founding members of Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon. He became a multi-millionaire in the publishing industry by founding the Pagurian Press, which he later sold to the Bronfman family.