He has been fortunate to train under and learn from some of the most renowned and elite instructors in TaeKwon-Do, including; Mr. John Roussel, Master J. Andre Blake, Grandmaster Tran Trieu Quan, as well as the Technical Committee of the ITF: Grandmaster Hector Marano, Grandmaster Wim Bos, and Grandmaster Ung Kim Lan.

As an elite athlete, he competed three times as a member of Canada’s prestigious National Team. In 1996, Mr. Ottesen helped Canada win two Gold Medals and the Men’s Team Champion title at the Pan-American Championships. In 1997, he helped win a Bronze Medal at the 10th World Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in 1999, as Captain of the Team Canada, he competed in the 11th World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

As a coach and instructor, Mr. Ottesen has been very fortunate to instruct, work with, and develop some truly exceptional athletes. Since 2004, six of his students and athletes have been selected to represent Canada at World Championships, both as individual athletes and as members of prestigious Team Canada.

He has been elected as Director of Umpires for the Canadian Taekwon-Do Federation International (CTFI), for over nine years, during which he developed a Train the Trainer program to further the development of Canadian Umpires. He also served as Canada’s Chief Umpire for 4 World Championships.

Since 2006, he has been a member of the ITF Umpire Committee, which is tasked with the training of Class “A” and “B” Umpires throughout the world, overseeing the Umpires at World Cup and World Championship events, as well as updating and modernizing the official ITF Rules of Competition.

Specializing in Defense Tactics Instruction and Personal Protection, he is a Certified Use Of Force Instructor and offers cutting edge instruction for various law enforcement, corrections, and private agencies. As an Executive Protection Officer, he has provided security services for many corporate, celebrity and private individuals throughout Western Canada.