John O'Fee, K.C.

BComm (UBC), JD (UBC)

Upon graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1987 with Commerce and Law degrees, John returned to his hometown of Kamloops to establish a legal practice centered on real estate development, corporate transactions, wills and estates.

John also pursued community service through election to three terms on the Kamloops School Board including serving three years as board chair. In 1999 John was elected to Kamloops City Council where he served for 11 years in various capacities including Audit Committee Chair, President of the Kamloops Airport Authority Society, Hospital Board Chair, Municipal Finance Authority Member and Regional District Director. In addition, John served in various volunteer roles with the Thompson Rivers University Foundation including six years as its board chair. More recently John has served as Chair of the Interior Health Authority and a director of the BC Provincial Health Services Authority.

In 2011 John left the private practice of law to become Chief Executive Officer of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc (Kamloops Indian Band). In this multi-faceted role John was responsible for a wide variety of enterprises ranging from a working cattle ranch and retail gas station to band social programs and an elementary school.

John joined the faculty of TRU first as a sessional instructor in 2010 and as full-time faculty in January 2014. He teaches a course in Real Estate Transactions for TRU Law and is an Associate Teaching Professor at the Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics where he teaches courses in Commercial, Employment and Real Estate Law.

In addition to his work at TRU, John serves as a director and panel chair for the BC Health Professions Review Board,  a member on the Canada Judicial Appointments Committee of BC, an elected school trustee for School District #73 (Kamloops-Thompson), and as a director of the Kamloops Innovation Council.

John has been recognized as a distinguished alumni of Thompson Rivers University in 1995, awarded a BC Community Achievement Award in 2011, was designated as King’s Counsel in December 2015, awarded the 2017/2018 Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence from TRU Gaglardi, chosen for 2020/2021 TRU Gaglardi Dean’s Award for Service Excellence and nominated for the 2023 TRU Faculty Excellence Award.

John O'Fee
Contact

Office:
IB 2011
Email:
jofee@tru.ca
Phone:
250-371-5560