Blake Olafson is a Founding Partner of ACRE and has spent 28 years in the real estate industry covering all aspects of the direct investment process including origination, underwriting, risk control, and creation of unique deal structures and exits. Mr. Olafson is responsible for the expansion of ACRE’s platform in southeast Asia and oversees ACRE’s flagship developments in Thailand and Indonesia. Prior to ACRE, he was Head of Asian Real Estate at Arcapita, where he was responsible for a $1.8 billion Asian real estate portfolio. Previously, Mr. Olafson spent several years at Lehman Brothers as a Senior Vice President responsible for principal real estate investments in Asia. Mr. Olafson has been an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he currently serves as a Global Governing Trustee in addition to previously serving as Chairman of ULI Singapore and a member of the Executive Committee of ULI Asia. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a Master’s degree in Real Estate Development.