Russell C. Holske is a senior managing director in the Washington, DC, office, focusing on investigations, due diligence, monitorships, and compliance. He brings over 30 years of investigative experience in U.S. and international criminal, civil, and administrative cases working for both the United States Department of Justice and a Fortune 500 company.
Mr. Holske served for more than 30 years with the Drug Enforcement Administration overseeing global investigations in multiple leadership positions throughout the United States, Asia Pacific, and Europe. From 2016 to 2019, he led DEA operations based in Bangkok, Thailand with oversight for 18 offices in 13 countries in the Asia Pacific region. As the regional director and a member of the Senior Executive Service, Mr. Holske acted as the principal U.S. official in Asia for all narcotics, pharmaceutical, and money laundering operations and led efforts working with China to stem the flow of fentanyl and precursor chemicals into the United States.
Prior to this assignment, Mr. Holske served as chief of the DEA’s Pharmaceutical Investigations where he oversaw pharmaceutical investigations and administrative actions for 66 tactical diversion squads in the 23 DEA division offices throughout the United States. He engaged with private industry to address compliance issues and delivered comprehensive situational presentations to medical and pharmaceutical groups to address drug diversion, specifically the opioid crisis. As Chief of Pharmaceutical Investigations, he spearheaded the largest diversion operation in U.S. law enforcement history, Operation Pilluted, to confront rogue doctors and pharmacies in the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
Mr. Holske joined the DEA in 1987 and served as a special agent in New York City, Boston, Providence and Milan, Italy before promotion to supervisory special agent-in-charge of the Asian Heroin Task Force in New York City and country attaché for Singapore, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste. He planned and executed high risk investigations involving multi-tiered criminal networks, high-level transnational criminals, and corrupt foreign officials.
Mr. Holske received numerous awards, including from the International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, Singapore Prime Minister, the Thai Police Meritorious Honor, and numerous DEA awards.
Immediately prior to joining Guidepost, Mr. Holske served as the regional security director – Global Security & Brand Protection for Estée Lauder Companies Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong. He led a team of investigators to address cargo theft, including maritime and air shipments across international borders and jurisdictions, and led brand protection efforts to disrupt and dismantle illegal manufacture and downstream online and off-line distribution of elite cosmetics and skin care products to protect consumers and business operations. He also directed security design and system integration for a Shanghai-based R&D facility and Tokyo-based manufacturing plant. As a member of the Crisis Management Team, Mr. Holske provided critical support to regional management during crisis situations that included political instability, natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic, providing projections, business continuity planning, and access to sensitive intelligence.
Did you know?
Russ is featured on the highly rated podcast Crimetown in an episode called Family Ties. He tells the story of an organized crime case in which he was involved and that resulted in a Continuing Criminal Enterprise conviction and numerous arrests.
