Kennett’s career in golf spanned more than five decades, earning him a place among the most revered figures in the Southern California golf community.

His journey began at Santa Anita Golf Course as a caddie, where his early passion for the sport flourished. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and winning the 1950 Southern California Intercollegiate Championship while at USC, he turned professional in 1953.

Kennett made a lasting impact on the Southern California PGA, both as a skilled competitor and a devoted mentor. He served as head professional at San Gabriel Country Club, Los Verdes Golf Club, and Lakewood Country Club, helping shape generations of golfers.

The starting point for Kennett’s contributions to junior golf was when he met fellow Southern California Professional Golfers’ Association Hall of Famer Paul Runyan, who invited him to team up and offer kids free golf lessons.

A love for inspiring the youth was born, and from it came one of Kennett’s lasting contributions to the sport.

In 1955, he founded the Len Kennett Junior Golf Championship, a free annual event that became a cherished tradition for young players across the region. Through his reach in the tournament, he became a well-respected mentor and teacher of the game in the area.

“He was a world-class golf professional,” longtime friend Jorge Badel said in an email. “He was laser-focused on improving your life through the game, be it free lessons for juniors, fitting you for golf equipment, golf tournaments for all, kids, women, seniors, professionals, or novices. He didn’t characterize or judge; you mattered, period.”

He’s a member of the SCPGA Hall of Fame and Long Beach Golf Hall of Fame as well.

His impact was further felt through his company, “People to People”—a U.S. government-sanctioned program promoting goodwill through golf. Kennett and his wife, Marie, hosted and led golf trips around the planet, with the goal of connecting people through the sport. They traveled to over 40 different countries.

“For those of us who were fortunate to work for him, Len gathered us under his umbrella, he pushed us, nurtured us, trained us, loved us, shaped us, humbled us, promoted us, and pushed us some more,” Badel said. “He helped us understand our potential, how to go beyond what we thought possible, and how to think about always raising the bar.”

Olaf was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, to Ari and Marguerite Brynjolfsson. He was the second oldest of five children, with an older sister, Ariane, and three younger brothers, Erik, John, and Alan. He spent his early years in Denmark, where his father worked to earn his Ph.D. in nuclear physics at the University of Copenhagen, and his mother worked as a Danish, French, and German translator. In 1965, Olaf and his family immigrated to the United States when his father was recruited to work for the U.S. government. Despite arriving with limited English, Olaf adapted quickly to life in Boston, Massachusetts, and went on to earn his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, followed by his M.D. from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

During his medical school years, while teaching MCAT courses in Boston, Olaf met the love of his life, a Persian computer engineer named Shahpar Foradi. They married in March 1986 and raised five children, including two sets of twins, all five born within three years. While growing his family, Olaf completed a general surgery residency at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital. He then went on to complete a fellowship in colorectal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, Florida, before he and Shahpar settled their family in Indianapolis, where Olaf built a thriving private practice. He expanded the practice from a solo endeavor to a multi-surgeon group and found further success through the development and ownership of several surgical centers. In addition to his clinical work, Olaf was a highly respected surgical expert witness, consulted in high-profile and complex medical cases across Indiana.

Outside the operating room, Olaf found joy in golf, a passion that began with caddying in his youth and continued into his adult life as a skilled golfer with a single-digit handicap. Above all, he cherished his family, his greatest source of pride. In recent years, he found joy in the company of his grandchildren.

A true Viking at heart, he weathered many challenges with resilience and strength, including early-onset heart failure, eventually requiring a heart transplant in 2011, and later fought a battle with late-stage cancer in 2019. He endured a heartbreaking loss with the passing of his beloved wife, Shahpar, to cancer in January 2018, and his son, Blake, who passed away unexpectedly from a genetic heart condition in March 2024. In July 2024, Olaf suffered a severe stroke and faced the challenges that followed with resilience and perseverance, supported by his family, until he passed peacefully in April 2025. The Johansen family takes comfort in knowing Olaf is now reunited with Shahpar and Blake.

Olaf is survived by his four loving daughters: Alexandra Johansen Laughlin and her husband, Jay, of Culver City, CA; Meetra Johansen and her husband, Pieter, of Santa Monica, CA; Vanessa Johansen and her husband, James, of Irvine, CA; and Samantha Johansen and her husband, Roman, of Playa del Rey, CA. He is also survived by his five grandchildren: Miles, Ella, Annika, Colin, and Dario; and by his siblings: Ariane Brynjolfsson Kelleris, Erik Brynjolfsson, John Brynjolfsson, and Alan Brynjolfsson.