'Untouchable' O-Dog
Hanson wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
His parents split when he was 8 years old, and he was raised in Redondo Beach, Calif., by his construction worker father. Together, they lived a modest life, he says.
In high school, the 6-foot-4 student was popular and excelled in sports. In 2000, he got into USC on a volleyball scholarship. Hanson later joined the Trojan football team as a walk-on in 2004.
The desire to fit in among his elite and wealthy teammates led him to make controversial decisions.
“Everyone had money, and I thought: ‘How am I gonna fit in?’ Next thing you know, I’m dabbling in performance-enhancing drugs, selling cocaine—small levels—just to keep up with the Joneses and be able to pay for college,” he explains. “And then once I graduated and all my friends went to the NFL, I was like, ‘What am I gonna do now to keep up with them?’”
Hanson pursued a successful career in real estate development but was laid off during the 2008 recession. Rattled, he turned to his rolodex of affluent USC connections and pivoted himself to become a big-time bookie.
Business skyrocketed, and “I started taking bets from the [Sinaloa] cartel,” he admits.
“One thing led to another,” Hanson recalls. “They saw that I had access to a lot of money, so they asked me to launder money through the United States for them, and I said, ‘Sure, no problem.’”
A couple of months in, Hanson says he was presented with an offer he couldn’t refuse: $1 million a day.
But there were two caveats: he had to relocate to Australia and dive headfirst into the illegal drug trade.
“It wasn't just cash now; it was also cocaine,” he says.
Forced to figure out how to smuggle drugs across international borders, Hanson says he had to get creative.
“I discovered a way to put cocaine into a liquid format and put it into wine bottles, and I created a service where I would ship wine from Napa Valley to Australia,” he explains. “Once I figured that out, I was like, ‘OK, I'm untouchable.’”
At the same time, in an effort to maintain momentum spearheading the cartel’s money laundering scheme, he sought out a professional blackjack player to help wash the cash.
“He would come to Australia and play at the casinos,” Hanson says. “He laundered a bunch of that drug money back into America, went to Las Vegas and he cleaned the money through the casinos.”
Things came crashing down when that player lost $2.5 million of the cartel’s money and tipped off the FBI in fear for his life.
The cartel gave Hanson two options: either pay them back the money the player lost, plus interest, or die, he says.
“I didn’t wanna die. I was spiraling,” he admits. “I knew the cartel was going to kill me [if he didn’t get the money back], and I knew that the FBI was watching me.”
According to federal prosecutors, Hanson showed “no signs of stopping this criminal activity. He bragged to undercover agents about the success of his operation and his aspirations to be even bigger.”
Hanson was subsequently arrested, and in 2017, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to distribute narcotics.
He was also ordered to pay a $5 million criminal forfeiture.
Life Behind Bars
Prison didn’t hinder Hanson’s work ethic. He used the time to earn his master’s in business while focusing on faith and fitness.
As part of his wellness routine, the former tight end would use empty peanut butter jars to make a post-workout protein shake.
That all changed when his cellmate tossed ice and salt in a mop bucket to keep the shake cold for him. The result: ice cream.
Instead of drinking the shake, “I started eating it, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, it's protein ice cream. And then the ‘ding, ding, ding’ in my head went off,” Hanson says.
He started making and selling his protein ice cream to fellow inmates at $15 a jar.
Nine years into his sentence, Hanson was released and placed on lifetime parole.
He vowed not to squander away his second shot at life.
Owen Hanson Now
Hanson started meeting with ice cream manufacturers to turn his protein ice cream concept into reality, and in September 2025, he officially launched California Ice Protein.
Despite the ups and downs, Hanson says he wouldn’t change a thing.
“Everything happens for a reason. I went to God, I got my master's degree while incarcerated, I have a business that's worth $20 million,” Hanson says proudly. “To be able to build something from rock bottom and give people hope about life after prison. That's the biggest flex.”
