John D. Longley was appointed Chief Operating Officer in October 2014 and became President of the company in 2019. Previously, Mr. Longley served as Senior Vice President since 2012 and Director of Business Operations since 2005 when he joined the company. With over 25 years of marketing and business strategy experience, he has been integral in growing the company’s business opportunities including its attractions, the monetization of valuable shipwreck finds and exploring new deep-ocean opportunities that utilize Odyssey’s core competencies.
Mr. Longley has an instrumental role in executing major marketing programs and projects at Odyssey. Following the Gairsoppa silver recovery operations that took place in 2012 and 2013, Mr. Longley led the program to monetize the 110 tons of shipwreck silver bullion, which constituted the world’s largest precious metals recovery from a shipwreck in history at the time of recovery. Odyssey’s first major shipwreck discovery was in 2003 when the company located the greatest treasure of the Civil War-era and recovered over 51,000 gold and silver coins along with 14,000 artifacts. Mr. Longley has orchestrated the development of Odyssey’s global distribution network for shipwreck coins and collectibles, which reached millions of shipwreck collectible buyers. Mr. Longley previously directed Odyssey’s traveling exhibit SHIPWRECK! which toured through 13 North American cities since 2005.
Prior to joining Odyssey, Mr. Longley served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Public Imagery from 2003 to 2005 and Director of Retail Marketing for Office Depot North American stores from 1998 to 2003. Mr. Longley graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Communications with a specialty in Advertising from Florida State University in 1989.