Michael O'Dwyer (born 9 June 1936) is an Irish retired Gaelic football manager and former player.

O'Dwyer made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen with the Kerry minor team.

An All-Ireland MFC runner-up in this grade, O'Dwyer subsequently made his senior debut during the 1956–57 league.

O'Dwyer was appointed manager of the Kerry senior team prior to the start of the 1974–75 National League.

He led Kerry through a period of unprecedented provincial and national dominance, winning twenty-two major honours.

O'Dwyer simultaneously took charge of the Kerry under-21 team, winning three successive All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship titles.

After ending his fifteen-year managerial tenure with Kerry, O'Dwyer moved to Leinster, where he took charge of Kildare between 1990 and 1994.

He made his debut against Waterford; however, he was dropped from the starting fifteen for the subsequent 4–10 to 1-3 Munster MFC final defeat of Cork.

After joining the Kerry junior team in 1955, O'Dwyer won a Munster medal in this grade the following year after a 4–10 to 1–4 defeat of Waterford.

O'Dwyer is his county's top scorer in National Football League history, finishing his career with 19–313 (370) in that competition.

As of 2021, he remained in the top ten all-time scorers in that competition, though he had been passed by numerous players, including Ronan Carolan of Cavan, Mattie Forde of Wexford, Steven McDonnell of Armagh, Conor McManus of Monaghan, Brian Stafford of Meath and David Tubridy of Clare.

[8] O'Dwyer made his senior debut for Kerry in a 0–9 to 0–6 National Football League defeat of Carlow on the 21 October 1956.

A punched Tom Long ball was forced into the net by Dan McAuliffe for Kerry's opening goal.

McAuliffe struck again when goalkeeper Jimmy Farrell dropped the ball accidentally in the goalmouth, while substitute Garry McMahon slipped as he sent the third into the net in the final few minutes.

Kevin Mussen's line ball found Dan McCartan, who sent in a high forty-yard lob, which Kerry goalkeeper Johnny Culloty dropped over the goal-line.

An historic final score of 2–10 to 0–8 resulted in a defeat for O'Dwyer's side, while the Sam Maguire Cup crossed the border into Northern Ireland for the first time.

It was a mark of his tenacity that he was named at centre-forward for Kerry's All-Ireland SFC final meeting with Galway on 27 September 1964.

Kerry held onto a three-point lead from the interval until the final whistle and a 0–10 to 0–7 victory gave O'Dwyer a third All-Ireland SFC medal.

Kerry made it three-in-a-row in Munster in 1970, with O'Dwyer collecting his tenth provincial medal following a 2–22 to 2–9 defeat of Cork.

Din Joe Crowley's "goal of the century" four minutes from the end sealed a 2–19 to 0–18 victory and a fourth All-Ireland SFC medal for O'Dwyer.

Kerry dominated the secondary competition once again in 1972, with O'Dwyer securing a sixth National League medal following a 2–11 to 1–9 defeat of Mayo.

For the seventh year in succession, Kerry faced reigning champions Cork in the subsequent Munster SFC final.

In the drawn game (four weeks later on 15 October 1972), both sides exchanged tit-for-tat scorers; however, Offaly broke Kerry's defence after forty-eight minutes when Pat Fenning's long speculative ball hopped over the line without anyone touching it.

O'Dwyer remained with the Kerry team during the 1973–74 National League season, albeit making just one appearance in a fourth round defeat by Cork.

During his fifteen years as manager O'Dwyer's Kerry teams played in ten All-Ireland SFC finals, winning eight of them.

[7] At the age of 66, O'Dwyer took over as manager of the Laois county team, appointed for a two-year term in 2002, one month after departing Kildare.

At the beginning of the 2006 SFC, O'Dywer announced that 2006 would be his last season with Laois; however, he did not rule out moving as manager to another team.

[23] On 16 July 2011, O'Dwyer announced the end of his tenure as Wicklow manager following defeat to Armagh in Round 3 of the 2011 All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

[26] In January 2014, aged 77, he confirmed that he had retired as an inter-county manager, though he was open to the possibility of an advisory role depending on the offer.