**Exhibit 31.1****Certification of the Principal Executive Officer****Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 78m(a) or 78o(d)****(Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)**I, Michael D. Siegal, the Chairman & Chief Executive Officerof Olympic Steel, Inc. (the “Company”), certify that:     (1) I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K ofthe Company;     (2) Based on my knowledge, this annual report does notcontain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to statea material fact necessary to make the statements made, in lightof the circumstances under which such statements were made, notmisleading with respect to the period covered by this annualreport;     (3) Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, andother financial information included in this annual report,fairly present in all material respects the financial condition,results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, andfor, the periods presented in this annual report;     (4) The Company’s other certifying officer and I areresponsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controlsand procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (asdefined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15(d)-15(f))for the Company and we have:          (a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or    caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed    under our supervision, to ensure that material information    relating to the Company, including its consolidated    subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those    entities, particularly during the period in which this annual    report is being prepared;           (b) designed such internal control over financial report,    or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be    designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance    regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the    preparation of financial statements for external purposes in    accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.           (c) evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s    disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this annual    report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure    controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by    this annual report based upon such evaluation; and           (d) disclosed in this annual report any change in the    Company’s internal control over financial reporting that    occurred during the Company’s most recent fiscal quarter    (the Company’s fourth quarter in the case of an annual    report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to    materially affect, the Company’s internal control over    financial reporting;     (5) The Company’s other certifying officer and I havedisclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internalcontrol over financial reporting, to the Company’s auditorsand the audit committee of Company’s board of directors (orpersons performing the equivalent function):          (a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in    the design or operation of internal controls over financial    reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the    Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report    financial information; and           (b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves    management or other employees who have a significant role in the    Company’s internal controls over financial reporting. By:     /s/ Michael D. Siegal           Michael D. Siegal     Olympic Steel, Inc.     Chairman & Chief Executive OfficerMarch 10, 2005