Over the past 30 years, Bill Wilhelm has been a driving force behind R.D. Olson Construction’s rise as one of the nation’s top general contractors. Under his leadership, the company has earned a reputation for excellence across the Western U.S. and Hawaii, delivering iconic projects in hospitality, multi-unit, education, and senior living. A dynamic leader, Wilhelm is a sought-after speaker at major industry events like The Lodging Conference and ALIS and has been featured in publications including Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. His commitment to both business and community has earned R.D. Olson numerous awards, including the Orange County Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work,” the “Olive Crest Leadership Award” and OneOC’s “Civic 50”.
Who is R.D. Olson Construction? When was your company founded and why?
R.D. Olson Construction is a general contracting firm that’s been in operation for over 45 years founded by visionary Bob Olson. Olson has an entrepreneurial vision of out of the box thinking when it comes to projects. He founded R.D. Olson Construction based on the vision to provide a hospitality experience to his clients by providing value add services.
Over the past 45 years how has your firm has grown from serving hospitality clients to various industries?
When R.D. Olson opened its doors, the firm only had three office staff alongside our balance supervision. Home additions and retail space created the initial opportunities.
Over time, we became well-known for our hospitality projects as they took us across the country. Building restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen, Cheesecake Factory, Morton’s steakhouse among others, while handling retail projects like Sears, helped nurture important relationships that took us on many more hospitality adventures and others.
Even as we developed our firm to become one of the top hospitality builders in the country, I felt we needed to diversify our firm to leverage the assets of our team while adhering to the needs of our society. Seven years ago, we began working on various housing projects. And it has truly paid off as there has been a shortage of housing everywhere over the past decade.
Additionally, having hospitality expertise also helped us dip our toes in many other industries including higher education, health & wellness living spaces and more. These got us involved with notable community projects including the construction of living/ community spaces at institutions like University of California Riverside and Chapman University alongside spas like certain Glen Ivy locations to household names like Marriotts, Hilton and more.
As our society becomes more complex with evolving needs, it’s a privilege to be able to serve a full spectrum of industries. We are grateful for our client relationships as 77% of our business is now repeat customers.
The housing crisis in California and the U.S. continues to be a significant issue. Is R.D. Olson Construction expanding its portfolio in sustainable affordable housing developments? How crucial is sustainability in solving housing issues?
The housing crisis in California continues to rise, especially with the tragic fires that just took place in the Greater Los Angeles region. We are now looking at an unprecedented number of unhoused individuals on top of the lack of supply of housing that was already present in California.
Our pipeline of all forms of housing projects is robust, from affordable to market rate and luxury developments. It will clearly take a significant amount of time to rebuild following the fires, but our housing portfolio in Los Angeles will definitely pick up.
Now more than ever, sustainable developments are key. At R.D. Olson, sustainability has always been at the core of everything we do as it not only benefits the residents in these buildings but provides economic benefits for the entire community.
A notable example is an affordable housing project we completed last year is West Carson Villas. Located in the South Bay, a quieter coastal residential region approximately 13 miles south of Downtown, West Carson Villas provides 111 units of supportive housing to residents earning 30 and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI).
Not only is the Gold LEED-certified project, it also incorporates solar panels, energy-saving appliances and a hot water recirculation system. These environmental standards, among others, are incorporated into our projects throughout Los Angeles and California as a whole.
This year, R.D. Olson is setting its sights on developing more extended education projects? Even as your firm has developed several higher education projects, have new needs evolved as hybrid learning has become the new normal?
The higher education landscape is changing especially as fewer students are enrolling into colleges and universities. Additionally, the Covid-19 pandemic changed the way we learn and work. We can’t expect students and professors to be on campus 100% of the time. That’s just not feasible anymore. At R.D. Olson, we are evaluating new higher educational needs, which fall under the umbrella of new technology and flexible spaces.
New technology is paramount, not only because we are evolving as a society, but because the university experience is not the same as how it traditionally was. Even as classrooms and general university spaces have been safe to return to for quite a while, students have evolving needs where they can’t always be in one place at one time. To cater to this new normal, we are equipping classrooms with video capabilities and state-of-the-art technology, ensuring students near and far can attend lectures.
With new technology comes the need for flexible classrooms. This is where classrooms can be rearranged for different meeting types – not only Zoom/hybrid, but for various in-person activities as well. Sometimes the best meetings are conducted where everyone gets to move around the room!
Since its inception, R.D. Olson has been known for hospitality work. 2023 and 2024 were difficult years for the hospitality industry due to economic and political factors. How will 2025 be a better year for the industry and what will R.D. Olson Construction bring to the table?
2025 is expected to be a better year overall for the hospitality industry. Over the past few years, there were issues of high construction costs, project delays and developer financing. The first half of 2025 will still experience the ripple effects of these factors, however it isn’t a doomsday scenario.
There is now more of an understanding of what can happen under the new administration, which helps us proactively plan with clients to anticipate challenges and plan accordingly. As the effects of 2023 and 2024 will also lessen, we are looking towards an exciting second half of 2025. This will include the completion of much-awaited properties like Appellation Healdsburg along with the anticipation of six new groundbreakings.
You have been with the company for over 30 years. How has the company changed over time and what are your goals for the future?
To clarify, I’ve been at the company since I graduated from college (I hope that doesn’t date me!). And for I’d say the past 20 years, prior to becoming president, I was provided the opportunity to truly understand how to use the keys of the car to drive functionalities of the business and what it means to run a full-service construction firm.
Ever since I took the presidential reign 11 years ago, I wanted to keep the motto the same as Bob originally had it – thinking outside of the box while remaining focused on the fact that every detail counts. So, we’ve really stayed the same. And that’s what helped our growth!
Our goal for the future is to still think outside the box and with that, that is staying abreast of industry trends and adhering to community needs. It’s something we’ve always done, but there is always room to improve.
Can you explain more about the R.D. Olson University program and how it helps employees grow and keep retention?
The R.D. Olson University (R.D.O.U) program is NOT a real university, but it provides just as much value. Several years ago, the program was introduced by connecting interns and new hires with more senior level employees to garner more knowledge on all aspects of construction.
Today, we offer 68 courses which can benefit from superintendents, engineers, project managers and more. Classes range from topics like “How to Bid on a Job” and “Increasing Your Financial Statement Fluency.” However, most importantly, our team prioritizes safety. We ensure all necessary team members take part in OSHA 10 and provide an additional 30 certifications from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
R.D.O.U not only provides employees with the core skills they’ll need to perform best on the job but allows employees to have fun by learning about what they want to. That’s not always the case at a traditional university!
R.D.O.U has helped us retain top industry talent as our staff has an average tenure of 12 years.
Anything else you would like to add?
If you are interested in learning more about R.D. Olson Construction, feel free to contact us at: 949-474-2001
Or submit a request HERE.
