Wolff Olins

Type	Wholly Owned Subsidiary
Industry	Brand consultancy
Founded	London 1965 (1965)
Founder(s)	Michael Wolff Wally Olins
Headquarters	London, New York City, Dubai
Key people	Brian Boylan (Chairman) Karl Heiselman (Chief Executive Officer)
Employees	150
Parent	Omnicom Group
Website	http://www.wolffolins.com/

Wolff Olins is a brand consultancy, based in London, New York City and Dubai. Founded in 1965, it now employs 150 designers, strategists and account managers, and has been part of the Omnicom Group since 2001.

The company specializes in developing brand experiences, creatively-led business strategies, and visual identity systems and has worked in sectors including Technology, Culture, Retail, Energy & Utilities, Media, and Non-profit.^[1][2]

In 2012, the firm was recognized by Ad Age as one of the Best Places to Work in media and marketing. ^[3]

History[link]

Wolff Olins was founded in Camden Town, London, in 1965 by designer Michael Wolff and advertising executive Wally Olins. Wolff left the business in 1983, and Olins in 2001, though both are still active in the field of branding. Over the years, Wolff Olins has opened offices in Hamburg, Paris, San Francisco, Madrid and Lisbon, all of which subsequently closed. In 1998, the company opened an office in New York, and ten years later in Dubai.

In 2002, Wolff Olins was selected by the British Library as a subject of their National Life Stories oral history project.^[4]

Work[link]

From 1965 to the early 1990s, Wolff Olins developed corporate identities for various large European companies. During this time Olins published The Corporate Personality (1978) and Corporate Identity (1989).^[5] Olins defined corporate identity as "strategy made visible", and the firm worked with companies including BOC (1967), Apple Records (1968), Bovis (1971), Volkswagen's VAG (1978), 3i (1983), Prudential (1986) and BT (1991).

During the 1990s, Wolff Olins focused more on corporate branding. The company's work during that time includes First Direct (1989), Orange (1994), Heathrow Express (1998), and Tata Group (2000).

More recent work has included Tate (2000)^[6], GE (2004)^[7], Unilever (2004)^[8], Sony Ericsson (2006)^[9], (Product) RED (2006)^[10], London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (2007)^[11], New York City (2007)^[12], Mercedes-Benz (2009)^[13], Tata DoCoMo (2009)^[14], AOL (2009)^[15], Target's Up and Up brand (2009)^[16], PricewaterhouseCoopers (2010)^[17], Asian Art Museum (2011)^[18], and the Smithsonian (2011)^[19]

Criticism[link]

Throughout its history, Wolff Olins has presented controversial work.^[20][21] Its piper design for BT in 1991 attracted a great deal of opposition.The company was also responsible for the short-lived $110m (£75m) re-branding of PwC Consulting to Monday in 2002. The launch of the London 2012 brand in 2007 was met with widespread public derision. Design guru Stephen Bayley condemned the London 2012 Olympic Games logo as "a puerile mess, an artistic flop and a commercial scandal".^[22]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Wolff Olins
• Oral History of Wolff Olins on British Library's National Life Stories

Michael Wolff
Background information
Birth name	Michael Blieden Wolff
Born	(1952-07-31) July 31, 1952 (age 59) Victorville, California, U.S.
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Musician, composer, bandleader, producer, educator
Instruments	Piano, accordion
Years active	1975–present
Labels	Columbia Records,[1] Fantasy Records,[2] Verve,[3] Capitol, A&M Records
Website	michaelwolff.com

Michael Blieden Wolff^[4] (born July 31, 1952)^[4] is an American jazz pianist, composer, producer, actor, and educator.^[5][6] He was honored as a Steinway Artist and obtained a BMI Cable Award. He also won an award at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

Wolff began his music career performing in Cal Tjader's band. He went onto become the musical director for jazz singer Nancy Wilson who introduced him to Arsenio Hall, and the latter of which he served as the bandleader for his CBS prime-time talk show, which broadcast from 1989-94.^[7] Wolff provided the score and co-produced The Tic Code (1999). He also co-starred and produced the music for the film The Naked Brothers Band (2005), winning him an Audience Award for Family Feature Film at the Hamptons International Film Festival. By early 2007 it became the pilot to the Nickelodeon musical comedy series of the same name, which he co-starred in and earned a BMI Cable Award for producing the series' music. Wolff is the leader of the jazz band Impure Thoughts which features Indian tabla player Badal Roy, drummer Mike Clark, percussionist Frank Colón and electric bassist John B. Williams. Wolff currently teaches jazz music at universities in New York City and performs at various jazz clubs in Manhattan with his trio.

Wolff married actress Polly Draper after meeting her when she was a guest on The Arsenio Hall Show. He and Draper have two sons — Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff — who starred in and wrote the music for The Naked Brothers Band film and series which was created, produced, written, and directed by Draper.^[8] Wolff's wife wrote and co-starred in The Tic Code which was influenced by his life with Tourette syndrome.^[9] He serves on the Board of Directors at the Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA),^[10] and is involved in mentoring children with Tourette's through the chapters of the TSA.^[11]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Wolff was born in Victorville, California and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[4] His family is culturally Jewish^[9] and his father, Marvin, was a medical doctor, treating Elvis Presley when the Wolffs' settled in Memphis, Tennessee. At age nine his family moved to Berkeley, California.^[4] He began studying classical piano at age eight, and drums at age 12. He had begun playing piano with the University of California Jazz Ensembles under the direction of Dr. David W. Tucker while attending Berkeley High School. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) that followed.^[7]

Career[link]

Wolff left college in 1972 to begin his music career, joining Cal Tjader's band.^[12][13] He then joined Cannonball Adderley's band in 1975.^[12] In 1977 he formed the band Answering Service with saxophonist Alex Foster.^[14] Wolff worked with other famous artists including Warren Zevon, The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Jean-Luc Ponty, Children On The Corner, Terri Lyne Carrington, Tony Williams, and Christian McBride.^{[13][15][16][12]} Wolff composed and played original music—and served as host—for the Riverside Shakespeare Company production of The Mandrake in New York City, featuring Tom Hanks in 1975.^[17]

In 1978, singer Nancy Wilson chose Wolff as her musical director.^[7] Arsenio Hall was Wilson's opening act, and in 1989, when Hall was given his own talk show, Arsenio Hall, Wolff was chosen to serve as the bandleader and musical director.^[18] He met his wife, actress Polly Draper, when she appeared as a guest on the show.^[7] In 1995 he released Jumpstart featuring Christian McBride and Tony Williams^[19] and in 1997 the trio released 2AM.^[20] Wolff is the leader of the jazz band Impure Thoughts which features Indian tabla player Badal Roy, drummer Mike Clark, percussionist Frank Colón and electric bassist John B. Williams.

He wrote music for the films Who's the Man? and Made up,^[11] as well as writing for and performing in other films.^[6] A movie released on video in 1999—The Tic Code starring Gregory Hines as a saxophone player with Tourette syndrome who befriends a young boy also with Tourette's—which was written by Draper and loosely based on Wolff's life. Wolff contributed the score and Draper co-stars in the film.^[21] Wolff co-starred in The Naked Brothers Band on Nickelodeon with his sons, Nat and Alex. The show was created, executive produced, written, and directed by Polly Draper. Wolff was the co-executive producer and music supervisor of the show.^[8]

Wolff oftens plays in various nightclubs in Manhattan, including the Knickerbocker Bar and Grill, performing with members of the Michael Wolff Trio, such as drummer Victor Jones and bass player John B. Williams. He is on the faculty at The New School For Jazz And Contemporary Music.^[5]

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• 1993 – Michael Wolff (Columbia Jazz)
• 1995 – Jumpstart! (Jimco/Cabana)
• 1996 – 2AM (Cabana)
• 1998 – Portraiture: The Blues Period (Fuel 2000/Varese Saraband)
• 2000 – The Tic Code Soundtrack (Razor And Tie)
• 2001 – Impure Thoughts (Indianola Music)
• 2003 – Intoxicate (Indianola Music)
• 2003 – Christmas Moods (Artemis)
• 2003 – Getting Into Heaven Soundtrack
• 2004 – Dangerous Vision (Artemis Records)
• 2005 – Sexual Healing (3D)
• 2006 – Love & Destruction (Wrong Records)
• 2007 – jazz, JAZZ, jazz (Wrong Records)
• 2009 – Joe's Strut (Wrong Records)

As sideman[link]

With Cal Tjader

• 1972 – Live At Concerts By The Sea (Fantasy)
• 1999 – Last Bolero In Berkeley (Fantasy)
• 2008 – Best Of Cal Tjader: Live At The Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-1980 (Monterey Jazz Festival)

With Cal Tjader and Charlie Byrd

• 1973 – Tambu (Fantasy)

With Cannonball Adderley

• 1975 – Phenix (Fantasy)
• 1975 – Volume One: Montreal 1975 (Essential Media Group)

With Tom Harrell

• 1975 – Aurora (Adamo/Pinnacle)
• 1976 – Bird Gets The Worm (Adamo/Pinnacle)

With Sonny Rollins

• 1977 Live At The Village Gate (Bootleg)

With Nancy Wilson

• 1979 – Live In Munich
• 1982 – At My Best (ASI)
• 1991 –With My Lover Beside Me (Columbia)

With David Axelrod

• 1993 – Requiem - The Holocaust (Liberty)
• 2003 – The Big Country (Stateside)

With Warren Zevon

• 1995 – Mutineer (Giant)
• 2002 – My Ride's Here (Artemis)

With Children On The Corner

• 2003 – Rebirth (Sonance) ^[15]

With Alex Foster

• 1997 – Pool Of Dreams (Truspace)

With Dave Samuels

• 1998 – Tjaderized (Verve) ^[3]

With Pastiche

• 2001 – Pastiche (Summit)

With Sam Morrison

• 2005 – Miles Away (Convalian)

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Honors and awards[link]

Wolff was honored as a Steinway Artist in June 2006. The Tic Code won awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Giffoni Film Festival and the Hamptons International Film Festival.^[28] Wolff and sons won the 2007 BMI Film and TV Award for the music on The Naked Brothers Band (TV series).^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Michael Wolff's website
• Michael Wolff at All About Jazz
• Michael Wolff at the Internet Movie Database