Mark Hollo has spent his career serving the people of Catawba and Caldwell counties — first as a physician assistant, and now as their voice in the North Carolina Senate.

A graduate of Southern Illinois University, Hollo earned his PA credentials from the Physician Assistant Program at Bowman Gray School of Medicine (now Wake Forest University’s PA Program) in 1983. Over the next 40 years, he practiced family medicine and urgent care throughout Catawba County, treating generations of local families until his retirement in 2021. He also spent years as an adjunct professor with the Lenoir-Rhyne PA Program, training the next wave of physician assistants for the region.

Beyond the exam room, Hollo built a business — co-owning a medical practice that grew to more than 40 employees, including physicians, PAs, and nurse practitioners. That experience managing payrolls, regulations, and a growing enterprise shaped his understanding of what small businesses across North Carolina need to succeed.

Hollo also served his country as a Physician Assistant in the United States Air Force Reserve, reaching the rank of Captain.

His path to public service began in 2004, when he was first elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives, where he served three terms representing Alexander, Yadkin, and Wilkes counties. After stepping away from the legislature in 2015 and two hard-fought Senate primary bids in 2018 and 2020, Hollo returned to Raleigh in 2025 as the newly elected State Senator for District 45, representing Catawba and Caldwell counties. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee and Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee — assignments that put his four decades of frontline medical experience directly to work for North Carolina families.

Mark and his wife, Barbara, have two children and call Conover home.