John Edward Patrick Gallagher, OC

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

 (July 16, 1916-December 16, 1998) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 geologist

Geologist

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

 and businessman. Born in Winnipeg, Gallagher attended the University of Manitoba

University of Manitoba

The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

. He became a petroleum geologist

Petroleum geologist

A petroleum geologist is an occupation that involves all aspects of oil discovery and production in the field of petroleum geology. Petroleum geologists are usually linked to the actual discovery of oil and the identification of possible oil deposits or leads. It can be a very labor intensive task...

 working for a number of multinationals in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

 and Canada searching for oil.

In 1950, he branched out on his own and founded Dome Petroleum

Dome Petroleum

Dome Petroleum Limited was a Calgary-based petroleum producer in the Alberta oilfields. Jack Gallager joined a group of investors in Dome Exploration Ltd. in 1950 and built it into the major Canadian oil company Dome Petroleum Limited . Gallagher was the sole employee for the first two years...

. The company found important new oil fields in Alberta, but Gallagher's main focus was on Canada's Arctic. The company spent billions exploring and found large deposits under the Beaufort Sea

Beaufort Sea

The Beaufort Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska, west of Canada's Arctic islands. The sea is named after hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort...

, but did not have the money to develop them. Deeply in debt, Gallagher resigned as CEO in 1983. Dome was sold to Amoco

Amoco

Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company , was a global chemical and oil company, founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States....

 in 1988 for $5.5 billion. Gallagher founded a new company that would become Prime Energy in 1984.

Gallagher was an Officer of the Order of Canada

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

 and a member of the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame.