Background
O'Brien was born in Montreal, Canada.
O'Brien was born in Montreal, Canada.
At the age of 14, he became the best alpine skier in Canada for his age group. In the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, he obtained the 33rd place in the downhill event, representing the British team. After that he competed for the Canadian team.
As the result of two shoulder operations (in 1985 and 1986), O'Brien announced ending his career. O'Brien made his comeback in the Lillehammer Olympics representing the Estonian team, but didn't finish in the downhill event.