 He received an honours bachelor's degree in environmental studies and psychology from the University of Waterloo in 1977 and an MBA in entrepreneurship from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario in 1980.In 1979, between the first and second years of his MBA program, O'Leary was selected for an internship at Nabisco in Downtown Toronto, and then worked as an assistant brand manager for Nabisco's cat food brand.O'Leary credits his later success at The Learning Company to the skills he developed in marketing during his days at Nabisco.