About the founder

Oakshield Protection was founded by Mateusz Chruszczyk, a close protection operative based in Galway with more than thirteen years in the security industry.

Mateusz trained as a Close Protection Operative with the European Security Academy in 2017 and served as an infantry soldier with the Army Reserve, 1st Infantry Battalion. With established Irish close protection companies, he protected film crews on numerous occasions and provided protection for actors and private clients, including in high-risk situations. Across Ireland, he has run dynamic threat and risk assessments, advance work, venue assessments and route planning, and he led a security team at a high-threat private residence.

Behind that sit four years as a private investigator and surveillance operative, carrying out covert surveillance, open-source research, and background and due-diligence enquiries for private and corporate clients. He holds certified training in counter-surveillance and anti-surveillance (EBSSA) and in open-source intelligence (European Security Academy), and has experience in a global security operations centre (GSOC) and in electronic security systems. He knows what being watched looks like from both sides, which is why Oakshield spots problems early.

He built Oakshield on one principle: the client should deal with one person who plans everything and answers for it. Every close protection operative who works with Oakshield is carefully selected, and Mateusz coordinates every assignment personally, working with licensed, vetted chauffeur partners he has known and worked with for years, across Dublin, Cork, the Midlands and the West of Ireland.

He works in English and Polish, with conversational Russian.