Leonard R. Olijar became the director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) in May 2015, after serving as BEP’s deputy director starting in January 2013. Located in the Treasury Department, BEP is responsible for printing U.S. currency (but not minting coins) and a variety of government documents, including Treasury securities, identification cards and naturalization certificates. BEP also decides whether mutilated currency can be salvaged for use or destroyed.
Born in September 1959, Leonard Richard Olijar grew up in a large family of seven children in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, a small town in the Allegheny-Kiski Valley about 23 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. After graduating Burrell High School in 1976, Olijar became the first person in his family to graduate college, earning a B.S. in Forest Products at Penn State University in 1980. After working a few jobs, Olijar returned to school and earned an accounting degree at the University of Colorado-Denver in 1987.
Olijar has worked at BEP for 29 years, beginning his career in 1988 as a systems accountant implementing BEP’s first Enterprise Resource Planning system. Over the years, he rose gradually through the Bureau.
In 2006, Olijar became BEP’s chief financial officer. He initiated the performance of BEP-wide risk assessments and began the implementation of a Lean Six Sigma program to improve customer service and efficiency.
In 2012, Olijar served as the executive sponsor for BEP’s Best Place to Work initiative and the BEP was recognized as one of the most improved agencies.
Olijar resides in Centreville, Virginia, with his wife, Suzanne, with whom he has two daughters, Valerie and Sarah.
-Matt Bewig
To Learn More:
Lower Burrell Native Oversees U.S. Currency Printing Process (by Emily Balser, Greensburg Tribune-Review)
Agency of the Month Treasury Department: Leonard Olijar (Federal News Radio) (audio)
