[1] He graduated from Peabody High School and was a leather worker until he entered the United States Army during World War II.

After the war he graduated Suffolk Law School and worked for the state airport management board.

[2] During his decade as mayor, O'Donnell presided over a building boom that saw development of West Peabody and the North Shore Shopping Center, the construction of Leo Buckley Stadium, three new schools, three housing projects, two new fire stations, municipal parking lots, and little league fields, a $1 million addition to J.

[3] In 1962 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Massachusetts's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.

[7] Outside of politics, O'Donnell was the director of the Lowe Mart Shopping Center in West Peabody.