About

My name is Dr. Henry Olders. I am a geriatric psychiatrist, now mostly retired. Until January 2016, I worked at Ste. Anne’s Hospital in Ste-Anne de Bellevue, where I had been looking after hospitalized war veterans since 2005.

Prior to that, I worked at the Sir Mortimer B. Davis – Jewish General Hospital in their Psychogeriatrics Clinic and also the Consultation-Liaison Service. I was Co-Director of the Psycho-oncology Clinic at the “Jewish”, and also consulted to the Mental Health 60+ team at CLSC René-Cassin in Cote Saint Luc. For several years I served as psychiatric consultant at Maimonides Hospital Geriatric Centre.

After completing my psychiatric training at McGill in 1985, I joined the staff at Douglas Hospital where my administrative roles included that of Director of the Psychogeriatrics Programme. My work with chronic psychotic patients and their families led to my being honoured by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) with the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award in 1995.

I was an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University, retiring in 2023. In 2005 I was awarded the Henry Kravitz Teacher of the Year Award by the psychiatry residents at the Jewish. I have authored several journal articles and a book chapter, and given many presentations to both professional groups and lay people.

Medicine is a second career for me, after having worked for several years as a computer systems engineer. My research interests include the role of sleep patterns in causing depression and fatigue, the influence of diet in aging and longevity, dietary factors such as omega-3s and vitamin B12 in affective disorder and cognition, and machine learning. I have developed a neural network based nearest neighbour pattern classifier which I believe can be a building block in a functional model of the neocortex.

Father of four and grandfather to nine, I was widowed when my cherished spouse, Helen Rainville, died in July 2019 from colon cancer. I volunteered in a community choir for many years, and stay active by cycling, running, and cross-country skiing. A past president of the Westmount Municipal Association, I continue to contribute time and energy to municipal organizations. I volunteered with the McGill Nutrition and Performance Laboratory (MNUPAL) research team, developing a research database using Filemaker. I am on the board and the executive of AMI-Quebec.