Thierry Oleksiak

Thierry Oleksiak (born 11 September 1961) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the currently assistant coach of Saudi Pro League club Neom, under the direction of head coach Christophe Galtier. As a player, Oleksiak was a defensive midfielder and centre-back.

Club career Born in Saint-Étienne, Oleksiak began his career at his hometown club of Saint-Étienne. He played seven seasons for the club's first team from 1979 to 1986, winning the Division 1 title in the 1980–81 season. In 1988, he was selected by Jacky Braun, coach of the France Olympic football team, for a match against Sweden. France had already been eliminated in the race for qualification for the 1988 Summer Olympics, and lost the match to Sweden by a score of 2–1. before returning to coach Aurillac in 2001. In 2008, Oleksiak joined Libourne Saint-Seurin (later renamed Libourne), where he was initially an assistant coach before becoming the head coach.

In 2012, Oleksiak returned to his hometown club Saint-Étienne, initially as a scout, Besides a small stint as an assistant coach for Chinese club Liaoning in 2017, Oleksiak followed Galtier to Lille, where he contributed to a Ligue 1 title in the 2020–21 season.

Personal life Thierry's father is also a former professional footballer. They both played for Saint-Étienne and Lille in their careers. Jean's father, Thierry's grandfather, was a political refugee from Poland.

Honours

Player Saint-Étienne

Division 1: 1980–81 Coupe de France runner-up: 1980–81, 1981–82

Manager Aurillac

Championnat National 3:

Saint-Étienne B

Championnat de France Amateur 2: 2013–14