The Firm
Thirty years of grounded delivery.
A First Nations economic development and mining liaison firm based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with thirty years of pan-Canadian experience — from mine sites and remediation programs to Chief-and-Council tables.
Years of senior delivery experience across mining-sector services, environmental remediation, infrastructure, and Indigenous economic development
In cumulative project and capital funding secured for clients and partners
Building retrofits delivered under Manitoba's Provincial Energy Efficiency Program
Provinces and territories of project geography — from the Prairies to Baffin Island
WILLOW Indigenous Community Services Ltd.
Willow-ICS was founded in 2013 and is led by Darrel W. Olson, whose career spans environmental services, hazardous materials remediation, mine site reclamation, oil and gas development and processing facilities, pipeline and transmission-line projects, forestry, agricultural operations, waste and recycling program management, energy efficiency program delivery, and Indigenous economic development.
Before founding Willow-ICS, Darrel held senior delivery roles across Western Canada — including Senior Program Manager at Ecofitt delivering Manitoba's Provincial Energy Efficiency Program (1,000+ building retrofits), Operations Manager at CBCRA for Manitoba's beverage container recycling program under Extended Producer Responsibility legislation, and Project Manager and Business Development Lead at Hazco Environmental Services (later Tervita) for remediation and hazardous waste programs across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Earlier career roles include over a decade as an environmental technician in oil and gas operations through D. Olson Environmental Consulting.
Since founding Willow-ICS, Darrel has contributed to engagements including hospital and health facility operational audits across Manitoba for Indigenous Services Canada, the design and delivery of solar PV systems in First Nation communities, and the development of governance, equity, and value-retention frameworks now in use across multiple Indigenous regions.
The firm is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and serves Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Treaty 3 territory, and Northwestern Ontario as its primary service region, with career experience spanning coast-to-coast Canadian work including engagements with Inuit organizations in the eastern Arctic.
Darrel W. Olson
President, WILLOW Indigenous Community Services Ltd.
Environmental Technician — D. Olson Environmental Consulting
Over a decade as an environmental technician in oil and gas operations across Western Canada — hazardous materials handling, mine site reclamation, agricultural and oil and gas field work. The foundation of hands-on operational delivery.
First Nations Engagement — Alberta Oil & Gas
First Nations engagement work in the Alberta oil and gas sector — the relational and technical foundation for a career at the intersection of industry, government, and Indigenous communities.
Project Manager & BD Lead — Hazco / Tervita
Environmental remediation and hazardous waste programs across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta — multi-jurisdictional delivery with government and industry clients.
Senior Program Manager — Ecofitt (Provincial Energy Efficiency Program)
Delivery of over 1,000 building retrofits across the province — one of the largest energy efficiency programs in Manitoba's history.
Operations Manager — CBCRA
Manitoba's beverage container recycling program under Extended Producer Responsibility legislation — complex multi-stakeholder program management at provincial scale.
Founded WILLOW Indigenous Community Services Ltd.
Bringing together thirty years of operational delivery, program management, and Indigenous economic development experience into a single integrated firm.
Mining Liaison & Indigenous Economic Development
Chief-and-Council-level relationships across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Treaty 3 territory, and Northwestern Ontario; governance, equity, and value-retention frameworks in use across multiple Indigenous regions; and a liaison practice retained by industry and grounded in long working relationships with Nations.
Winnipeg-based. The centre of Canada — literally.
Willow-ICS is headquartered in Winnipeg — the longitudinal centre of Canada, on Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Red River Métis — and serves the region operators have always called Central Canada: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Treaty 3 territory, and Northwestern Ontario. The firm's client practice is with Indigenous communities and organizations — First Nations, Inuit, and Métis — and with the industry and government partners who work with them. Engagements to date have been concentrated with First Nations and Inuit clients; Métis governments and organizations are welcome at our table. Career experience spans coast-to-coast Canadian work — including projects with Inuit communities and organizations on Baffin Island and across the eastern Arctic. That breadth carries a principle the firm holds closely: there is no single "Indigenous perspective." Every First Nation, Inuit community, and Métis government carries its own governance, culture, history, and priorities, and Willow-ICS approaches each engagement on those terms. The firm's geographic positioning reflects its actual capacity — not an overclaim of national reach.
The firm operates with a dedicated delivery team: Darrel W. Olson as Strategic Lead, supported by an in-house build team that handles website, marketing, and digital operations work. Willow-ICS is not Indigenous-owned; it is structured as a non-Indigenous services partner and is not a law firm or financial advisor.