John Olenowski, a 34-year coaching veteran with seven years of NCAA Division I experience, enters his ninth season as the head coach of the Drew University women’s basketball team in 2024-25.
The all-time winningest coach in team history, Olenowski reached a milestone during the 2023-24 season, when he picked up his 100th career victory at Drew in the team's 64-56 overtime victory at Wilkes University. He enters the 2024-25 season with a career record of 100-87 at The Forest.
Also during the 2023-24 season, Olenowski helped lead the Rangers to a spot in the Landmark Conference Championship for the second time in three years. In addition, one of his players - Jamie Struble C'24 - captured a spot on the All-Landmark Conference Team.
Under Olenowski's direction, the Rangers posted an outstanding year in 2022-23. The squad posted its second-winningest campaign in team history, going 17-8 while notching a 7-7 mark in Landmark Conference play. He also coached Joey Meyers C'23 to another tremendous individual season, as she captured both All-Landmark Conference and All-Met honors for the third year in a row. She also gained a spot on the D3hoops.com All-Region team for the second straight season and became the second Ranger in as many years to earn the Landmark Conference Women's Basketball Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
In 2021-22, Olenowski guided the Rangers to a record of 16-8 (7-7 Landmark Conference). The 16 victories were the second-highest in program history, and the team made the program’s first appearance in the Landmark Conference Tournament. Drew had two players receive all-conference honors, while Erin Frederick C’22 was cited as the Landmark Conference Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women’s basketball.
Olenowski and the Rangers enjoyed a stellar season in 2019-20, as the Blue and Green finished 18-10 while setting a team record for most victories. They also reached the championship game of the ECAC Division III Championships as the No. 7 seed after knocking off the second- and third-seeded teams in the first two rounds.
In his third year at the helm in 2018-19, Olenowski directed a young Ranger squad to a 13-12 record, marking the team's first winning season in nine years. He also steered Drew to its first postseason berth in five seasons, as the Rangers were selected to compete in the ECAC Championships. In addition, he helped Julia Ramos C'21 become just the second Ranger in program history to be named All-Met and First Team All-Landmark Conference.
One year earlier, Olenowski coached Drew to its best record in three years, and his team also defeated a nationally-ranked opponent with a 46-44 win over No. 17 Juniata College. In addition, the Rangers won the team's home tournament, the Rose City Classic, for the first time since 2008.
Olenowski took over the Rangers program after completing a seven-year run as head coach at Manhattan College, a Division I program in the MAAC. Under his guidance, the Jaspers appeared in consecutive national semifinals in the Women’s Basketball Invitational. Olenowski coached nine All-MAAC players, including the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year. In 2010, Manhattan ranked third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 50.9 points per game.
A 1978 graduate of Saint Leo College, Olenowski began his coaching career at Morris Catholic High School in Denville, N.J., in 1979. Over 14 seasons (1979-82, 1995-2006), he guided the Crusaders to a 330-39 (.894) record and three New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) State Championships. During Olenowski’s tenure, Morris Catholic also won 10 Colonial Hills Conference Championships, six Morris County Championships and seven NJSIAA Sectional Championships. MCHS also made a pair of appearances in the New Jersey Tournament of Champions, reaching the semifinals in 2003.
He also served as Morris Catholic’s athletic director from 2003-06 and was in charge of Major Gift Giving. Olenowski was inducted into the Morris Catholic High School Hall of Fame in 1987 and the NJSIAA Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2007, he was presented with the NJSIAA Outstanding Coaching Achievement Award.
In 1982, Olenowski left Morris Catholic to take over the women’s basketball program at Pace University. Over three seasons at the helm, Olenowski led the Setters to a 70-28 (.714) overall record, and the team increased its win total each season. Meanwhile, the headman won a pair of Empire State Conference Coach of the Year honors (1983-84, 1984-85). He mentored eight 1,000-point scorers and two All-Americans. In addition, his teams boasted a 100 percent graduation rate.
Olenowski also boasts college coaching stints in 2007-08 as an assistant coach at Saint Peter’s College. The Peacocks posted a 19-12 record that season, their first winning campaign in five years. Prior to coming to Manhattan, Olenowski was an assistant coach at Long Island University during the 2008-09 season.
