Ken Olynyk will join the TRU WolfPack women’s basketball team as a Technical Advisor, just days after he learned that he will be enshrined into the Canada West Hall of Fame.

Head coach Todd Warnick says he is “humbled and honoured” that Olynyk, the longtime Athletic Director at Thompson Rivers University, is returning to a program that he helped build.

“For the WolfPack women’s basketball student-athletes and coaching staff to have access to his incredible depth of knowledge and wealth of experience is a rare privilege,” Warnick said.

“I know that myself, my assistant coach and all of our athletes will benefit tremendously from the opportunity to learn and grow from Ken’s history of excellence.”

A former U SPORTS basketball coach, Olynyk was the head coach of the TRU WolfPack women’s basketball team during their inaugural U SPORTS season in 2005-06, and was head coach of the UBC Okanagan Heat men’s team in 2018-19.

He also coached the men’s team at the University of Lethbridge from 1979 to 1988 as well as the Toronto Varsity Blues from 1989 to 2002, and was named National Coach of the Year in the 1994-95 season.

Olynyk, who retired in 2017 after a 15 year career as TRU’s Athletic Director returned to coach the WolfPack women’s team in 2021-22, before he made way for Warnick.

“I think it’s a great opportunity and I always want to give back, I’ve got so much from my time that I was at TRU,” Olynyk said. “I really enjoy working with Todd and if I can help in any way I want to. I’m looking forward to it and it should be really exciting.”

“I love working with the student-athletes. I think they are great, young people that are going to become excellent leaders in our communities.”