Speakers, Chefs & Trainers

Chef.Holen

Chris Holen

Chris Holen is an American Professional Chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur. Chef
Holen grew up in rural Alaska and after spending a good part of his early twenties
traveling outside of the country he came to realize that food was the common
denominator of all the adventures and made the decision to pursue a career in the
culinary field.

Chris is a graduate of The Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona with
degrees in both Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management. Since the year 2000 he has
been self-employed, along with his wife Jennifer in the restaurant business owning and
operating a number of establishments over the years.

Chris and his wife Jennifer call the historic city of Astoria, Oregon home having lived
there since the year 2000 and together they have an 18 year old daughter. They have
become ingrained in the community and live by the mantra, “lucky to live here.”
Chef Holen has been a culinary instructor and mentor. He has cooked at The James
Beard House in New York City on three separate occasions, He has represented the
state of Oregon at the Great American Seafood Cook-off in New Orleans, and has
presented his concept “Chef Outta Water” at conferences in the United States, Australia
and Mexico.

Chef Outta Water is Chris’s most recent passion project, started in 2016. What started
as a simple desire to get out of his own kitchen to gain more knowledge has become a
World-wide exchange program that takes Chefs out of their comfort zones to work with
and learn from others. Chef Outta Water is a global partnership between chefs and is
facilitated by Chris and his Australian partner. The partner being a professional in the
economic development space, combined with Chris’ experience in food and beverage
has made for a clever marriage.

To date, Chef Outta Water has traveled to and worked with Chefs from a dozen different
countries and looks to continue building these global relationships indefinitely.
“To truly learn more about your passion and yourself, one must get out of their own
kitchen”