Otto John Jelinek (Czech: Otakar Jelínek;Otakar Jelínek 20.05.1940, Trade Register of the Czech Republic May 20, 1940 – September 5, 2026) was a Czech-Canadian businessman, figure skater and politician. His family fled to Switzerland, then to Canada from Czechoslovakia in 1948, following the Communist coup d'état when communists nationalized his father's cork and aluminium caps factory. Jelinek was appointed ambassador of Canada to the Czech Republic in August 2013.
Figure skating career International Event 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 Winter Olympic Games 4th World Championships 3rd 3rd 4th 2nd 1st North American Championships 2nd 1st National Canadian Championships 1st J. 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st J = Junior level Jelinek competed as a pair skater with his sister, Maria. They are the 1962 World Champions, the 1961 North American national champions, and 1961-1962 Canadian national champions. They represented Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where they placed 4th.
After they won the World Championships in 1962, the Jelineks retired from competition, and toured professionally with Ice Capades."People", Skating magazine, November 1962 In late 1963, Jelinek became engaged to Darlene Streich, an American ice dancer who went on to win the U.S. Championships in that discipline in 1964."News About Skaters", Skating magazine, Dec 1963
The Jelineks were inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1962 and into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 1994.
Political career After retiring from professional skating, Jelinek started a business, Canadian Skate Industries, to manufacture figure and hockey skates for the mass market. He also had considerable investments in real estate."Evolution... From Skater to Businessman", Skating magazine, Jun 1971
After a time in business, Otto Jelinek entered politics and was elected in the 1972 election to the House of Commons as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for High Park-Humber Valley in Metropolitan Toronto.
He was re-elected in 1974.
In 1979, he switched to the riding of Halton, where he ran and won in the 1979 federal election.
When the Tories formed the government after the 1984 election, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed Jelinek to the Cabinet as Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport, and the Minister responsible for Multiculturalism.
In 1988, he was named Minister of Supply and Services, and later, Minister of National Revenue.
Jelinek was returned to the Parliament in the 1988 federal election in Oakville—Milton.
He left politics after Mulroney retired and did not run in the 1993 election.
In 2013, he was appointed ambassador of Canada to the Czech Republic.
Business career In 1994, he moved to the Czech Republic, and became chairman of the Board of Directors of Deloitte & Touche Central Europe, and chairman and managing partner of the firm in the Czech Republic, a position he held until 2006. In 2007, Jelinek assumed the role of chairman of Colliers International, CEE Region. Jelinek was also a chairman of the society Olympiad for Czech Republic, which led the activities of Prague to become the host city of the 2020 Summer Olympics.
In 2011, Jelinek became a Managing Partner with Passport Energy, a Canadian oil and gas company, with responsibility for corporate and financial affairs in Europe.
Death Jelinek died on September 5, 2026, at the age of 86. He had been affected by Parkinson's disease for almost 20 years and was hospitalized at the Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga at the time of his death.
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