Michael Wilkes — the longest-serving Olathe city manager in the city’s history — announced his retirement after the first quarter of 2026 at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
“(Councilmember) Marge (Vogt) and I were on the council 26 years ago, when we hired Michael,” said Mayor John Bacon. “It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long to me… At that time, we hoped he would play a key role in transforming our organization and community — and that he did.”
Beyond seeing a population growth from less than 90,000 residents to over 150,000 between 1999 and 2025, Wilkes saw the community gain hundreds of new businesses and tens of thousands of new jobs, according to a city news release. In 26 years, Olathe moved from a bedroom community to one of the state’s fastest growing communities in terms of both population and business.
Just last month, Heartland Coca-Cola bottling facility opened in southern Olathe — a $400 million investment.
“I truly believe Olathe is in a better place today, and I’m incredibly proud and honored to have played a small role in getting us here,” Wilkes said in a letter to the Olathe City Council. “I’m eternally grateful to the thousands of people who have or do call Olathe home. I am blessed to serve them. There is not a better community in America, nor is there a place with more compassionate and loving people.”
Under Wilkes, Olathe:
- Updated the city charter to extend council terms to four years.
- Approved a parks and streets sales tax, helping create lasting infrastructure to maintain the city’s community center and parks and trails system.
- Developed and implemented two strategic plans, which serve as long-term guides for cities in decision making and community development. This includes the transformational changes made to downtown Olathe, such as the new Johnson County Courthouse, library and incentives that encourage business owners to revamp storefronts.
“The change I’m most proud of saw our local government emerging into the best performing in the nation with a strong and sustainable culture,” Wilkes said in his letter. “We saw leaders in the organization grow and thrive, and we saw stable and visionary elected leaders guiding us along the way.”
Below is a copy of Wilkes’ retirement letter.
During his tenure, Wilkes served:
- On the board of the Olathe Chamber of Commerce and its executive committee
- Twice as board chair and board member of the Alliance for Innovation
- Twice as board president and board member of the Kansas League of Municipalities
- On the K-State Olathe Advisory Board
Prior to becoming Olathe’s city manager, Wilkes served as the city manager of Alpharetta, Georgia. Wilkes has spent about 42 years serving in local government, including time in Gwinnett County, Georgia; Eugene, Oregon and Jackson County, Oregon.
Though he’s been all over, he and his wife, Holly, plan to stay in Olathe upon his retirement.
“Michael, words can’t express my appreciation, citizen appreciation, for all you’ve done,” Vogt said. “Your vision and integrity, transformational leadership has really helped all the councils through the years to bring Olathe where we are today.”
