Mike Oles

Mike serves as the Indiana Director at Mighty Earth, where he works on heavy industry decarbonization and deforestation issues. Indiana is home to nearly half of U.S. steel production and the nation’s RV manufacturing industry, where 85% of America’s motorhomes and travel trailers are built. The industry is closely linked to deforestation on the island of Borneo.

A graduate of Earlham College with a degree in history, Mike is a veteran organizer with extensive experience in community, political, and environmental campaigns. His organizing work has been featured in numerous media outlets and in the 2022 book American Made: What Happens to People When Work Disappears, which examines the human toll of deindustrialization following the closure of the Rexnord ball-bearing factory in Indianapolis.

Mike is married, has three teenage daughters, and lives on a family farmstead in central Indiana.