Deirdre O'Brien

Deirdre O'Brien is the Senior Vice President of Retail and People at Apple Inc., reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook.

Early life and education
O'Brien enjoyed sports in her youth and was the only girl on her Little League Baseball team. She stated that the toughest, proudest, and "most badass thing" that she had ever done was coming out in her mid-20s.

O'Brien received a Bachelor's Degree in Operations Management from Michigan State University and an MBA from San Jose State University.

Career
O'Brien was recruited into Apple from Michigan State University in 1988. One of her first tasks was to oversee manufacturing of the Macintosh SE at Apple's plant in Fremont, California. She credits her sports background with helping her become a team player.

One of the longest serving executives at Apple, O'Brien's responsibilities were expanded from Worldwide Sales and Operations Support, to People, which covers human resources at the company. She also oversees Apple University. In 2019, her responsibilities were expanded again to cover Apple's retail stores, after the previous Senior VP of Retail, Angela Ahrendts, had left the company.