About Kemal

Kemal Olmez was born and raised in Istanbul since 1937. He went to highschool and navy school in Turkey, and came to the United States after his marriage and the navy in 1959. After his time in the navy, he decided to pursue a college education at Edison Tech Community College in Seattle in the automotive engineering division. He worked for many car companies over the years and then decided to open Anatolia LTD, an import business, which he sold in 1980. He opened up many restaurants after this including Marmara and Meyhane Turkish Restaurant, and was a manager at many different businesses. After his retirement, Kemal Olmez returned to Turkey for six years until 2011, then moved back to Seattle to continue his retirement. He has been an active member of TACAWA since 1975 and served as president twice. Even after living in the United States all these years and starting a family in Seattle, he feels the most comfortable speaking Turkish and tries to visit his homeland frequently.