TORO NAMES PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
The Toro Company announced that Richard M. Olson was elected to the position of president and chief operating officer effective Sept. 1, 2015. Olson, 51, served the company in various roles throughout his 29-year tenure, most recently as group vice president of its international and micro-irrigation businesses while also having responsibility for global distributor development and its wholly-owned domestic distributorships.
In this new role, Olson will continue to report to Michael J. Hoffman, chairman of the coard and CEO, and will oversee all of the company’s businesses and global operations.
Olson joined The Toro Company in 1986 and spent his first 14 years in increasing leadership roles in operations, including as a commercial engineering program manager, director of plant operations at the company’s facility in Shakopee, Minn., and managing director of northern manufacturing operations.
Since 2010, Olson has held a number of executive positions in the company’s businesses, including as vice president, Exmark division, and vice president, international business. Olson was named group vice president, international business, micro-irrigation business and distributor development in June 2014.