Barton O’Brien is the founder and CEO of BAYDOG, a canine adventure gear company based in Stevensville, MD. O’Brien, a graduate of the US Naval Academy, served three combat tours in Iraq as a Marine AH-1W Cobra pilot. Following his time in the Marines, he earned a masters degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins, before moving to London, England to begin a career in finance. After years working for a hedge fund, focusing primarily on structured credit and hard asset investments, O’Brien left finance to become an entrepreneur.

In seven years BAYDOG has gone from three products being sold out of O’Brien’s living room, to 900 SKU’s sold in over 2000 stores from Alaska to Bermuda. In 2023 BAYDOG won the prestigious FedEx Small Business Grant Contest, and O’Brien was subsequently appointed to the FedEx Small and Medium Sized Business Advisory Board. Barton maintains his private pilot’s license and enjoys flying Pilots N Paws missions to help save rescue dogs in need. He and his dog Walter reside in Annapolis where they are active members of their community.

O’Brien briefed National Press Foundation fellows in September 2025: Covering Tariffs: What’s at Stake for Small Businesses.