2018 40 Under 40 Yearbook: Richard Ollis, 55

Then: Commercial insurance specialist, board member, Ollis & Co.
Now: CEO, Ollis/Akers/Arney

Richard Ollis has come a long way since 1999, both professionally, personally and — what would have been a surprise to him then — politically.

“I’m not sure that I thought that I would ever necessarily be a politician and a policymaker,” says Ollis, a Springfield councilman as of 2017.

One of the biggest changes in his professional life came in 2015, when Ollis & Co. merged with Akers & Arney to create Ollis/Akers/Arney.

“Certainly, it has both expanded our market and expanded what we do for our clients,” he says of the company that now has nearly 50 employees and recorded premium volume of $67 million in 2017.