Prior to his heavy involvement in the world of academia, Holden worked as an associate and senior consultant at Bain & Company (1997–1998) followed by time as an analyst, then as Vice President for Pacific Equity Partners (1998–2001).
[2] Upon its launch in mid-2020, Holden was appointed to the Strategic Council of the Blueprint Institute, an online think tank associated with moderate members of the Liberal Party.
[4] Michael Photios, chairman, founder and owner of PremierNational and PremierState, sits on the Strategic Council of the Blueprint Institute alongside Holden.
[5] Holden resigned from the Blueprint Institute's Strategic Council along with economists Gordon Leslie and Emilia Tjernstrom after being asked to endorse using $350,000 in donated funds to conduct polling in marginal and regional electorates on attitudes to climate change ahead of the upcoming federal election.
[6] The revelations around the proposed use of donor funds for clearly political and lobbying purposes also led to the resignations of the Blueprint Institute's Chief Economist, Steven Hamilton, and Director of Research, Daniel D'Hotman.