Chip Ohlsson

Chief Development Officer Planet Fitness

Last Reviewed: October 1, 2026

Executive Summary

Chip Ohlsson is Chief Development Officer of Planet Fitness, the executive responsible for where and how fast the brand opens new clubs, in the United States and abroad. He came to fitness from two decades of hotel development, most recently nine years as Chief Development Officer of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Hotel and gym franchising share the same core trade: persuading owners and landlords to invest their own capital in a brand’s next site. The most visible result of his tenure so far is reopening the system to new U.S. franchisees in 2026, after roughly a decade in which growth came only from existing operators.

Career Highlights

• Chief Development Officer of Planet Fitness since 20 January 2025, reporting to Chief Executive Colleen Keating.
• Signed the company’s first area development agreements with new U.S. franchisees in about a decade, including three agreements for Florida’s Gulf Coast in August 2026.
• Expanded the Mexico pipeline in February 2026 with a new development partner for Tijuana and Mexicali.
• Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from 2015 to 2024, overseeing development for 24 hotel brands across North America.
• Vice President of hotel brand development for the U.S. and Canada at Starwood from 2006 to 2015, helping launch the aloft and Element brands.

Professional Journey

Ohlsson studied communications at William Paterson College. Earlier in his career he held roles of increasing responsibility at Cendant Corporation.

In 2006 he joined Starwood Hotels and Resorts as a vice president overseeing hotel brand development across the United States and Canada. Over nine years he helped launch two new brands, aloft and Element, and revitalised Four Points by Sheraton. Planet Fitness’s announcement credits that work with helping Starwood exceed its annual growth targets.

He moved to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in 2015 as Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer, overseeing 24 hotel brands across North America. He held the job until 2024. Over that time, according to Planet Fitness, he delivered 16 consecutive quarters of growth, restructured the sales teams, strengthened relationships with key ownership groups and managed a $29 million annual budget.

Planet Fitness announced his appointment in January 2025, and he started on 20 January. He was one of two senior hires from the hotel industry that month, alongside Chief Marketing Officer Brian Povinelli from Marriott. Chief Executive Colleen Keating, herself a former hotel executive, said both had led consumer brands through expansion while working with franchisees. His remit covers domestic and international expansion for both corporate and franchise clubs and strengthening the franchise network. At the November 2025 Investor Day he presented the fourth strategic imperative, accelerating new club growth.

In 2026 that work became visible. In February the company signed a development agreement in Mexico with Impulso Gym, a joint venture between Great American Hospitality and Desarrollos Mafersa, aimed at Tijuana and Mexicali. Planet Fitness had 47 Mexican locations at the end of 2025, and Ohlsson said the model was “resonating” there. In August the company signed three area development agreements with Ian McClure of Gulf Coast Hotel Management to build along Florida’s west coast. That deal marked the end of a roughly decade-long pause on adding new U.S. franchisees.

He explained the shift to Franchise Times in September 2026. The company had always intended to sell certain markets but waited to see where the brand grew and how its peers performed. Having refreshed that analysis, it was relaunching area development agreements. He also noted that the clubs’ busiest days, Monday to Wednesday, are when shopping centres are quietest, which makes landlords keen to sign further leases.

Education

William Paterson College

Bachelor’s Degree, Communications