Leadership of O&H Danish Bakery passes to a new generation (2025)

RACINE — Peter Olesen began working in his family’s business when he was only 3 years old — helping package O&H Danish Bakery kringles by placing the cardboard ring in the center of the pastry.

Last month he was named president of the company.

After most recently serving as O&H’s vice president, Peter takes over from his father, Eric Olesen, who served as president for 30 years.

“Over the past 12 years as a vice president, (it) really (was) an opportunity to deeply understand the business better and the quality and service that we provide to our customers,” Peter said.

O&H has been in the Racine community since 1949, when it was founded by Christian Olesen after he emigrated from Denmark. Since then, the business has been passed down through the Olesen family, with both Eric and Peter growing up in the bakery.

Eric said he saw his father practicing family and Danish values such as integrity, learning and finding ways to get things done — qualities he, as a former leader, would like to pass down to future generations of owners.

Peter, too, got to observe his family members working at the bakery.

“After school, on weekends and during busy holidays, (I watched) my father, my uncles, my grandfather, grandma, my mom (and) everyone just passionately care for this business,” Peter said.

For Peter, working alongside people at the bakery taught him that every job has quality, “even something as simple as making a ring and how to do it right and how to do it wrong.”

He also said that his grandfather’s and father’s generations were able to “teach and train” the younger generations about work ethic — a lesson Peter said “made quite the impact.”

“We are a retail bakery at our core,” Peter said. “So every opportunity to serve our customers, even as a young boy refilling a rack of buns on a busy holiday, really just made me realize how passionate so many people are for our business, not just our family (and) our employees, but our customers alike.”

Although Peter admired the passion his family members and customers showed for the bakery, he acknowledged that “there’s a big world out there.”

He said Eric encouraged him to get a degree and to work for a different business.

“I did that, and that was great (and) gave me a lot of experience outside of the business,” Peter said. “But in the end, the business kept calling, this ability to work with so many great people and serve so many great customers around a product that we’re so proud to make every day.”

Growing up watching his father and grandfather lead the business, Peter said he wants to uphold the same core values — service, quality, passion, community and hard work, each of which he said “boils down to doing a job as good as you can and always improving.”

As president, Peter said he’s most excited for the bakery to continue making its products “the traditional way” from scratch.

“That’s not changing, and that’s who we are,” Peter said. “But yet, there’s always ways to be innovative beyond that and to change and grow. That’s what makes business and our business, I think, very exciting.”

As Eric assumes the role of president emeritus, he said he is “very proud and humbled” that O&H is now in its fourth generation of leaders.

“Family businesses are difficult in the sense of continuing them, especially growing family businesses,” Eric said. “At one point or another, many of them fail or get old or the next generation doesn’t want to participate.”

Peter echoed his father’s sentiments, saying he is proud to be a part of the family business.

“That Olesen family values and work ethic is where it started, but (we’re) so grateful for so many employees who have helped us along the way get here,” Peter said. “And our customers. We are who we are because we have passionate customers that we do our best to serve well, listen to and … keep exciting with new products and great legacy products.”