Bank of America, the nation’s third-largest bank by assets, has a new face leading its Iowa operations.  

Rob Oltjen rose to prominence in Kansas as a star performer within Bank of America’s Private Bank, which caters to wealthy clients. The 38-year-old father of one began in Des Moines in September. He replaced Frank Spillers, who moved to Bank of America’s Beverly Hills, Calif., office.

Oltjen’s challenge will be to build Bank of America’s name recognition in a state that is dominated by Wells Fargo Bank Iowa, U.S. Bank and Principal Financial Group Inc.’s quickly growing Principal Bank. Bank of America, which nationally ranks behind Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase, is the seventh largest in Iowa in terms of deposits, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

“I want to maintain the momentum that we have going here,” he said. “I want customers leaving our bank to say, ‘That’s the best bank I’ve ever been to.'”

As of June 30, Bank of America had a 1.56 percent market share in the state in terms of deposits. That puts it just ahead of First American Bank and just behind Hills Bank and Trust Co.

Oltjen, who said Bank of America’s success in Central Iowa has long depended on its national name recognition, plans to increase the amount of local advertising to attract more customers. The bank has 16 branches in Iowa, half of which are in Des Moines. Nationwide, Bank of America has 4,400 branches in 21 states, the most offices of any bank in the country.

Over the next three years, the bank plans to build another 550 new branches. Some of those could be in Iowa, Oltjen said.

In addition to being Bank of America’s Iowa president, Oltjen heads the company’s private bank in Iowa. That operation caters to customers who have more than $1 million in investable assets. To better serve those clients, Oltjen is in the process of completing licensing requirements for the rigorous certified financial planner designation.

Oltjen, who was raised on a farm in Kansas, earned a bachelor of science degree in agricultural economics from Kansas State University. The difficult farm economy in the mid-1980s pursuaded him not to join his older brother on the family farm. Instead he took a job at Farm Credit Services, where he said he could use the knowledge he learned in school and help farmers.

In 1992, he joined what is now Bank of America. Five years ago, he became part of Bank of America’s Private Bank in Topeka, where he built the loan portfolio from nothing to more than $23 million in two years. That performance earned him a promotion to the bank’s Kansas City office.

In Des Moines, Oltjen has already become part of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Committee and he said he’s searching for other ways to get involved in the community. He’s particularly interested in finding ways to help children, he said.