Max Wilmarth is a geologist who has spent the last 20+ years working in geothermal exploration, development, and operations across six continents.
His career has ranged from field geology and early-stage exploration to executive leadership roles overseeing technical teams, resource strategy, drilling support, and development decisions for geothermal projects around the world. He currently serves as Chief Technology Officer of Kaishan Renewable Energy Development, the parent company of Open Mountain Energy in the U.S. and KS Orka in Indonesia.
He’s worked in startups, major international engineering firms, operating companies, academia, and consulting. Along the way he’s lived and worked in places including Indonesia, New Zealand, and the western United States, usually somewhere near drilling rigs, fumaroles, or difficult geological problems.
His technical background includes geothermal exploration, structural geology, geochemistry, remote sensing, shallow temperature methods, resource assessment, and integrating multidisciplinary datasets to reduce exploration risk and support investment decisions.
He’s published peer-reviewed research, presented at geothermal conferences, and taught geothermal courses and workshops, but I still enjoy the practical side of the work most: understanding geothermal systems and figuring out how to move projects forward in the real world.
Outside of work, he serves as an elected Director for the Graton Community Services District in Sonoma County, California.