NEWS: Olin Taps Founder, Economist and Strategic Advisor Jean-Louis Warnholz to Boost Student Entrepreneurs
The appointment of Warnholz as Olin's first Entrepreneur in Residence will advance the College’s commitment to developing engineering entrepreneurs through real-world problem solving.
NEEDHAM, Mass. - NOVEMBER 13, 2026 - Olin College of Engineering today announced the appointment of Jean-Louis Warnholz as its inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence.
Warnholz will support aspiring student founders from their first year by collaborating in a dedicated on-campus co-creation space, helping design and teach classes tailored to entrepreneurial engineers. He will also give lectures on economics and personal finance and contribute to the Technology Venture Capstone (TVC), Olin's well-established capstone for entrepreneurs. Alongside his 1:1 student mentoring, Warnholz will recruit other mentors and startups to the College to expand Olin's ecosystem.
Jean-Louis Warnholz joins Olin College of Engineering as its first Entrepreneur in Residence.
"At Olin, we view entrepreneurship not merely as starting a company, but the drive and capability to solve problems across every domain," said President R. May Lee, underscoring a core theme of her Sept. 25 inaugural address. "Jean-Louis brings a distinguished blend of experience and expertise in macroeconomics, global policy, venture building and executive leadership. His presence on campus will accelerate the connection between our students’ hands-on prototyping culture and the markets where their ideas can make a difference."
Warnholz, an Oxford-trained economist, was Co-Founder and CEO of Future, the fintech behind the FutureCard Visa Debit Card. He was a Founding Principal and Managing Director at BlackIvy Group, launching and scaling businesses across East and West Africa in health, food, housing and logistics. Throughout his career, his work has bridged advocacy, finance and entrepreneurship, and his opinion and thought leadership pieces appeared in the Financial Times, New York Times, Fast Company and the Harvard Business Review.
“My goal is to help make Olin the catalyst for entrepreneurial engineers—giving every student the permission, the means and the real-world stakes to dare, learn from setbacks and go again,” said Warnholz. “Student entrepreneurs will prototype, iterate and test their ideas in the marketplace while completing their engineering education, surrounded by peers, mentors and state-of-the-art facilities. I am thrilled to be part of that.”