Rick Knoll

Rick Knoll brings a hybrid technical and financial background to Freshwater Advisors, developed through a career spent advising both middle-market and major corporate clients across an array of industries.

Beginning his career in the Oil & Gas Sector, Rick worked developing and executing projects throughout the downstream refining sector of a Fortune 50 Company, before joining a financial consultancy in Dallas Texas, heading their Oil & Gas Advisory Services Group. After growing the practice in three cities, Rick and his partners sold the company in 1998 to a publicly-held financial services company. Following the sale, Rick became the CFO of Chicago-based BlueMeteor. An Application Service Provider, BlueMeteor deployed their platform of system applications through an internet-based portal, while integrating with its clients’ legacy applications.

For the past 15 years, Rick has run a construction execution technology consultancy in the downstream refining sector, helping Fortune 100 companies execute large-scale capital expansions throughout the United States in a highly accelerated manner. Through the development and deployment of construction execution technologies, Rick’s company has commissioned nearly $1 billion of capital expansion.

Rick holds his Bachelor of Science and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois. Additionally, he holds a Masters of Business Administration in Finance. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a licensed Professional Engineer.