Speaking and Media Kit: Grand Master Stephen Oliver
This page is for event organizers, podcast hosts and journalists. It holds Grand Master Stephen Oliver’s approved bios at three lengths, his speaking topics, approved photos and how to book him. Please use the bios as written.
Book Stephen Oliver
For keynotes, workshops, podcast interviews and media requests, call the office at (720) 256-0208 or use the contact page.
Approved bios
One line (bylines, podcast intros, event programs)
Grand Master Stephen C. Oliver, MBA, is a 10th Degree Black Belt, Founder and CEO of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, and CEO and Chairman of NAPMA.
Short (author boxes, guest bios)
Grand Master Stephen Oliver, MBA, is a 10th Degree Black Belt and the Founder and CEO of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, one of the martial arts industry’s leading coaching and consulting organizations for professional martial arts school owners, BJJ academies, and MMA gyms. A martial arts school owner since 1975 and business coach since 1985, Oliver has spent more than five decades building, operating, and advising successful martial arts schools. He also serves as CEO and Chairman of NAPMA (the National Association of Professional Martial Artists) and Publisher of Martial Arts Professional magazine. A Georgetown University cum laude graduate, he earned his Executive MBA through the Executive Program at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. He was promoted to 10th Degree Black Belt in April 2026 and inducted into the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame in August 2026. Learn more at MartialArtsWealth.com and StephenCOliver.com.
Long (press kits, speaker introductions)
Grand Master Stephen C. Oliver, MBA, is a 10th Degree Black Belt and one of the most experienced business advisors in the martial arts industry. He is the Founder and CEO of Mile High Karate and of Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, the coaching organization he built for professional martial arts school owners, BJJ academies, MMA gyms, Muay Thai gyms and Krav Maga schools.
Oliver began training in 1969 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the Jhoon Rhee lineage, began teaching in 1974, and opened his first school in 1975 under Jhoon Rhee — at fifteen years old. While earning his degree at Georgetown University he served as head instructor and branch manager for the Jhoon Rhee Institute in Washington, D.C. He received his Black Belt from Jhoon Rhee in 1978 and was promoted to 10th Degree by Grand Master Jeff Smith in April 2026.
In August 1983 he founded Mile High Karate in Lakewood, Colorado, with $10,000. He opened five schools in eighteen months and reached more than 2,500 active students and more than $1,700,000 in annual revenue — approximately $5,200,000 in today’s dollars — by age 25. Mile High Karate passed 3,500 active students by the late 1980s and kept growing, franchising internationally from 2000 across the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. He has personally promoted more than a thousand Black Belts, aged five to seventy-six.
He began coaching other school owners in 1985 and in April 1987 was elected to the first Educational Funding Company Board of Directors, speaking nationally for the industry. In 2000 he founded Stephen Oliver’s Inner Circle, since rebranded as Martial Arts Wealth Mastery. He later acquired NAPMA and Martial Arts Professional magazine; he has served as NAPMA’s CEO and Chairman since 2007. He writes for six industry publications and is the author of twelve books, including The Way of the Mile High Maverick and Everything I Wish I Knew When I Was 22.
A Georgetown University cum laude graduate in International Economics and a National Merit Finalist, Oliver earned his Executive MBA through the Executive Program at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. He was inducted into the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame in August 2026.
Speaking topics
- Building a $1,000,000 martial arts school — how he grew Mile High Karate from $10,000 to more than $1,700,000 in annual revenue by age 25, and what still applies today.
- Enrollment and marketing — direct-response lead generation, digital advertising, referral systems and intro processes that convert.
- Retention is a teaching problem — curriculum, instruction quality and the school as a leadership academy, from Extraordinary Teaching.
- Pricing and profitability — program structure, upgrade paths and the numbers behind a sustainable school.
- Staff and instructor development — hiring, training and building a leadership pipeline.
- Authority marketing for professional services — the same systems applied to financial advisors through Advisor Wealth Mastery.
Where he has spoken
- Keynote and lead speaker at martial arts industry conventions and business seminars across the United States since 1985, including the Educational Funding Company conventions.
- NAPMA Bootcamps, the Extreme Success Academy and Quantum Leap events, and the NAPMA World Conference.
- Martial Arts Wealth Mastery member events, including the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
- The Music Industry Success convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- He has shared the stage with Dan Kennedy, Brian Tracy, Jay Abraham, Tony Robbins, Lee Milteer, Chuck Norris and former NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, among others.
Podcasts and interviews
- School Owner Talk #272 — Interview With Stephen Oliver
- School Owner Talk #382 — Six Simple Steps to Add 100 Students
- School Owner Talk #409 — Lights, Camera, Enrollments!
- Story Power Marketing Show — Why Marketing Is a Martial Art (2023)
- Million Dollar Producer Show #022 — Authority Marketing (2023)
- The Real Deal Podcast with Jason Silverman (2013)
- Become An Author Podcast — Stephen Oliver and Jeff Smith
- Martial Arts Marketing For School Owner Podcast (S2E4, 2025)
Approved photos
Right-click to download. Please credit “Courtesy of Stephen Oliver.”
Name and title style
- First reference: Grand Master Stephen Oliver (two words, “Grand Master”); later references: Oliver.
- Rank: 10th Degree Black Belt.
- Titles: Founder and CEO, Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery; CEO and Chairman, NAPMA; Publisher, Martial Arts Professional magazine.
Related: Full biography · Books · 2026 announcement · Lineage
Last updated: October 2026