Harvey Mackay is author of five New York Times bestsellers. His first two books -- Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive and Beware The Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt -- have been translated into 35 languages and distributed in 80 countries. Both books were New York Times #1 bestsellers and are also listed by the Times among the top 15 inspirational business books of all time.
Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty was released in April 1997, and Pushing The Envelope in January 1999. Both cracked the New York Times bestseller list. Harvey's latest book, We Got Fired! ... And It's The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Us, was released on Oct. 1, 2004, and has already become his third New York Times #1 bestseller.
Harvey interviewed 28 Americans who were fired and landed on their feet - people like Muhammad Ali, Michael Bloomberg, Lou Holtz, Billie Jean King, Larry King, Robert Redford, Joe Torre, Lesley Visser, Jesse Ventura and many more. His books have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
Harvey is a nationally syndicated columnist for United Feature Syndicate, whose weekly articles appear in 52 newspapers around the country, including the Chicago Sun Times, Newark Star Ledger, Rocky Mountain News, Orange County Register, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Arizona Republic.
He also is one of America's most popular and entertaining business speakers, speaking -- on average -- once a week to Fortune 500-size companies and associations. Toastmasters International named him one of the top five speakers in the world, and he is a member of the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame.
In addition, Harvey is chairman of Mackay Envelope Company, a $100 million company he founded at age 26. Mackay has 600 employees and manufactures 25 million envelopes a day.
Harvey is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Program. He is an avid runner and marathoner, and former #1 ranked senior tennis player in Minnesota.
In April 2004, Harvey received the prestigious Horatio Alger Award. He was inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame in 2002. He is the past president of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, the Envelope Manufacturers Association of America, the University of Minnesota National Alumni Association, to name only a few of the organizations in which he is involved.
He played a key role in bringing the 1992 Super Bowl to Minneapolis, along with serving as the catalyst in bringing an NBA franchise (Minnesota Timberwolves) to his home state, serving as chairman of the task force in getting the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome built, bringing in Lou Holtz to coach the University of Minnesota, and many more.
All of which is why Fortune magazine refers to him as "Mr. Make Things Happen."
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