Jim Olin has been a leader in the vacation rental and resort real estate and development industries since the 1980s.
Jim is currently CEO of C2G Advisors LLC, a strategic consulting firm specializing in all facets of the hospitality industry, with special emphasis on vacation rental and resort activities. The company also has a robust M&A operation, and has been responsible for more M&A deals within the vacation rental industry than anyone else in history. Jim was also part of a select negotiations team for one of the largest class action settlements in the history of the United States, and Jim continues to provide litigation consulting in the areas of hospitality and business economic loss.
Previously, Jim was Managing Partner of The Sterling Companies LLC. He managed the merger of three of Northwest Florida’s leading privately owned resort development, resort management and real estate sales companies into one powerful regional company servicing all facets of the resort industry. Until September 2008, the company managed over 1,500 rental units, employed over 50 real estate agents, and had developed high-rise condominium projects throughout Destin and Panama City Beach, Florida. In September 2008, Sterling Resorts and Sterling Realty were sold to Encore Enterprises out of Dallas, Texas.
Jim is the former President and CEO of ResortQuest International (NYSE: RZT), the world’s largest vacation rental property management and resort real estate firm. Under his leadership at ResortQuest, Jim guided the network of more than 20,000 vacation rental properties in 52 premier resort destinations and developed alliances and partnerships that gave ResortQuest a truly global reach. ResortQuest had more than 5,000 employees and managed a vacation rental portfolio valued at over $7 billion. Jim also oversaw a real estate brokerage network of more than 350 agents, who traditionally managed in excess of $1 billion in real estate listings.
Jim had been with ResortQuest and its subsidiaries for 10 years. He was appointed COO of the company in January 2000 and was then promoted to President in April 2002. Previously, he was President and CEO of Abbott Resorts and Abbott Realty, based in Destin, Florida. As President and CEO of Abbott Resorts from 1992 until January 2000, Jim engineered the company’s growth from 900 units to more than 2,500 units, and real estate sales from $35 million to $250 million annually. Prior to joining Abbott Resorts, he served in various capacities within the tourism and economic development fields in Florida, beginning with the Florida Department of Commerce.
Jim is a licensed real estate broker in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, and has been appointed to numerous State level committees and task forces by previous Florida governors and Secretaries of Commerce. Jim is a member of both the prestigious Counselors of Real Estate (CRE), and the Council of Real Estate Broker Managers (CRB) – he is 1 of only 8 persons currently invited to membership in both organizations simultaneously.
Jim also has certifications from the National Association of Realtors as a Resort and Second Home Property Specialist (RSPS), and a Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES). He is also a Certified Negotiations Expert (CNE), and a Fellow with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
Jim is a former Instructor at the University of Phoenix, and holds a Masters Degree from Florida State University. He is also a founding board member of the Onsite Property Managers Association (OPMA) and is a frequent speaker at the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) National Conference.
Jim has been married for over 34 years to his beautiful wife, June, and they have 4 children and 5 grandchildren.
