NOTICE: pholynyk passed away October, 2024 [Apnea Board Monitor]

[SuperSleeper]

Profile avatar of Philip Michael Olynyk (pholynyk)

Apnea Board Monitor

I have the very sad duty of informing our members of the passing of Philip Michael Olynyk, otherwise known here as "Phil" or pholynyk.

We've known that Phil has had rather severe physical issues for quite awhile, having to undergo dialysis on a daily basis.  His ongoing illness was a struggle for him and he fought courageously during the past several months.  Phil succumbed to his illness in October of this year (2024) at the age of 78.

Phil joined Apnea Board in March of 2015 and was quickly promoted to become one of our "Master Members" (now called "Advisory Members").  He excelled in his help and advice to other sleep apnea sufferers, and in May of 2017, we asked Phil to join the forum staff and become an "Apnea Board Monitor".  His skill-set was undoubtedly tremendous and he helped us with technology, our website and also to catch spammers and enforce the rules.  

Eventually, Phil became the head guy to spearhead the OSCAR project when the SleepyHead project was shut down.   He became the "Lead Developer" for OSCAR and helped maintain the code and encouraged the OSCAR team with coding skills that were legendary.  Thousands upon thousands of sleep apnea patients around the world will be forever grateful to Phil for his work on OSCAR.  Phil helped move OSCAR to the "best-in-class" software reputation that it enjoys today. 

Phil - may you REST IN PEACE.

We will miss you, my friend.

Here's an older picture of Phil, in his younger days:

[Big Guy]

So sorry to hear of this. My condolences to his family and friends.

RIP Phil.

[SarcasticDave94]

We lost a great guy. Sincere condolences to his family.

[Sleeprider]

Phil will certainly be missed. Anyone that has ever used Oscar has leaned on his expertise in programming, and he was also active in helping members to improve therapy. I was working on the Sleepyhead project in the old days and when that project blew up, I relied on Phil to know how to secure the code until we could decide the next steps. Since then the project has come a long way and services a new generation of devices and many new brands thanks to his work analyzing code and making devices accessible to the Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter. He even decrypted the algorithm Philips integrated to try to make the code unavailable to their device patients. Phil lived a full life at and away from Apnea Board, and it was my privileged to have been able to work alongside of such a talented and patient man. God speed Phil, and rest in peace.

We can all celebrate Phil by downloading OSCAR 1.6.0 released today by the Oscar team. LoudSnorer is now the lead programmer and Phil passed the project on to him early this year.

[Crimson Nape]

Goodbye old friend. See you on the other side.
- Red

[Homerec130]

RIP my brother. Till we meet again.

[G. Szabo]

I was not fortunate to know him personally, but I (we) have been experiencing the benefit of OSCAR, which is a great achievement and will support all of us.

Thank you, Phil!

[OpalRose]

Can't speak highly enough of Phil's contributions as a Monitor, but even more important, he left a legacy here by example.  

His dedication to the OSCAR project has left a path for others to follow.

You will be missed!  Heaven's gain is Apnea Board's loss.