Arne Nielsen was a petroleum geologist and senior corporate executive. He discovered the Pembina Cardium oil field near Devon, Alberta in 1953. Arne Nielsen became President and GM of Mobil Oil Canada, then Chairman and CEO of Canadian Superior Oil, and was twice Chairman of the Canadian Petroleum Association. He was co-architect of the energy policies adopted by the Mulroney government after the contentious National Energy Program. He lived in Calgary, Alberta, until his death in 2013.

“Arne Nielsen, 87, is a Petroleum Hall of Famer. Nielsen was ‘chief executive politician’ of Mobil Oil Canada, as he puts it; discoverer of the Pembina No. 1 field at Drayton Valley, Alta.; twice chairman of the Canadian Petroleum Association; famed foe of the National Energy Program. His career spanned the biggest energy boom in history – a ‘golden age,’ Nielsen calls it.” - Holly Doan, Blacklock’s Reporter, November 6, 2012

“Arne -­ everyone refers to him by his first name – is lucid, insightful and passionate. A member of the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame, his lively anecdotes and candid assessments of the many battles he survived fill his biography.” - David Finch, Calgary Herald, December 2012

"Author Nielsen is a former CEO of a major oil company in Canada. During his 60-year career in the Canadian petroleum business, he discovered a major oil field in Alberta and helped develop the energy policies adopted by the Mulroney government. In this memoir he stresses political aspects of the petroleum industry, offering an insider's perspective on the motivations and machinations of key figures behind the scenes." Book News Inc., 2013

"The oil industry is a tumultuous one, one that often calls for risk. We Gambled Everything is a memoir from Arne Nielsen who offers his insights.... [It] is a fascinating tale..." Midwest Book Review, June 2013

#5 on the Calgary Herald's Bestsellers list for the week of December 14, 2012.

#1 on the Calgary Herald's Bestsellers list for the week of January 12, 2013.

#7 on the Calgary Herald's Bestsellers list for the week of March 23, 2013.

“The author, a prominent retired Canadian oil geologist and senior industry executive, captures in his memoirs the excitement of oil discoveries on the Alberta and Saskatchewan plains during the 1940s and ’50s…. [H]e shares the excitement of locating the multibillion barrel Pembina oilfield in 1953, that has become one of the most productive fields in North America…. Nielsen analyzes the changes in Canadian federal energy policies that have dramatically affected the level of oil and gas investment, exploration, and development in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, eastern Canada off shore, and in the Northwest Territories.” Allan Edward Ingelson, University of Calgary, Great Plains Research, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2014