[1] He made his World Series debut in the 2010–11 season, and became an overnight sensation after he scored three tries for New Zealand during the final of the 2011 Wellington Sevens against England.
[2] O'Donnell made his Super Rugby debut for the Chiefs in 2012, but was delisted at the end of the season, and joined the Dunedin-based Highlanders in 2013.
[1] O’Donnell was discovered by New Zealand head coach Gordon Tietjens playing in a local tournament in Te Rapa.
His hat-trick in the final of the NZI Sevens made him an instant national hero,[2] and put him jointly as top try scorers for the 2010–11 season along with South Africa's Cecil Afrika and Fiji's Seremaia Burotu.
At the latter part of 2012 O'Donnell joined the Maori AllBlacks tour, after impressing at ITM Cup level for Waikato.