John Odermatt began his career in 1982 where he served as a New York City Housing Police Officer, patrolling public housing developments. John’s promotions with the Housing Authority Police and subsequently the New York City Police Department rise to the rank of Assistant Chief. His assignments include the Executive Officer of the NYPD’s Intelligence Division where he was the coordinator of the 55th United Nations General Assembly, Special Session and responsible for the security and coordination with Federal Agencies of over 300 dignitaries visiting New York City.
In 2000, John was detailed to New York City’s Office of Emergency Management as the First Deputy Commissioner located in 7 World Trade Center. After surviving the 9/11 attack, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani gave him responsibility for the coordination of over one hundred agencies for disaster recovery. In April 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed John as Commissioner of New York City’s Office of Emergency Management. During his tenure he lead recovery efforts for several notable New York City emergencies including the 2003 Blackout.
Following a distinguished career of more than two decades in law enforcement and emergency management, John joined the private sector in 2004 where he led the Office of Business Continuity for Citigroup. He reengineered the program to be a leader in resiliency, crisis response and pandemic planning. In 2011, John was named Global Head of a new Fraud Surveillance Unit. Finishing his assignment at Citi as the Global Head of Security Services where he was responsible for governance oversight for physical security at Citi facilities around the world and Citi’s crisis management program. He and his team provided centralized coordination, management, and mitigation of countless crisis events, ranging from incidents at local branches to significant international events across the globe.
Under John’s leadership, Citi has become known as a leader in resiliency, crisis response, and pandemic planning. Over the last three years, John had demonstrated that expertise in emergency management, and he had been a leader and critical partner to functions across the firm as we all navigated through the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. From organizing deliveries of crucial supplies to employees impacted by the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010; supporting recovery efforts after the U.S. hurricanes in 2012, and again in the Caribbean in 2017; spearheading the company’s response to COVID and supporting our EMEA-based team’s efforts to safely evacuate Citi employees and their families from Ukraine, John and his team have literally helped save lives throughout his tenure.
In February 2023, John opened a startup firm, Ashwood Advisors. A company to provide clients with Resiliency, Business Continuity and Security Services. Additionally , John is concurrently the Director of Crisis & Incident management for Charter Communications in Stamford Connecticut.
John is a graduate of St. Joseph’s College. In June 2003, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St. Joseph’s College. John also holds a master’s degree in Management from New York University. He is a graduate of Columbia University’s Police Management Institute. John has a daughter Meline and a son Thomas, both graduates of Fordham University.