40 Facts About Theodore Olson

Theodore Bevry Olson was an American lawyer who served as the 42nd solicitor general of the United States from 2001 to 2004 in the administration of President George W Bush.

Theodore Olson previously served as the Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel of the US Department of Justice from 1981 to 1984 under President Ronald Reagan, and he was a longtime partner at the law firm Gibson Dunn.

Theodore Olson grew up in Mountain View, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Theodore Olson then attended the UC Berkeley School of Law, where he was a member of the California Law Review and campaigned for Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president in 1964.

Theodore Olson graduated in 1965 with Order of the Coif membership.

From 1981 to 1984, Theodore Olson served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Ronald Reagan administration.

Theodore Olson argued that the Independent Counsel took executive powers away from the office of the President of the United States and created a hybrid "fourth branch" of government that was ultimately answerable to no one.

Theodore Olson argued that the broad powers of the Independent Counsel could be easily abused or corrupted by partisanship.

Theodore Olson returned to private law practice as a partner in the Washington, DC, office of his firm, Gibson Dunn.

Theodore Olson argued the life sentence Pollard received was in violation of the plea bargain agreement, which had specifically excluded a life sentence.

Theodore Olson argued that the violation of the plea bargain was grounds for a mistrial.

Theodore Olson argued a dozen cases before the Supreme Court prior to becoming Solicitor General.

On December 11,2000, Theodore Olson personally delivered the oral arguments before the Supreme Court on behalf of Bush.

Theodore Olson was nominated for the office of Solicitor General by President Bush on February 14,2001.

Theodore Olson was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 24,2001, and took office on June 11,2001.

In 2002, Olson argued for the federal government in the Supreme Court case Christopher v Harbury, in which Supreme Court agreed with Olson's position in its unanimous opinion written by Justice Souter.

In July 2004, Theodore Olson retired as Solicitor General and returned to private practice at the Washington office of Gibson Dunn.

In 2006, Theodore Olson represented a defendant journalist in the civil case filed by Wen Ho Lee and pursued the appeal to the Supreme Court.

Theodore Olson wrote a brief on behalf of one of the journalists involved in the case, saying that journalists should not have to identify confidential sources, even if subpoenaed by a court.

In 2011, Theodore Olson represented the National Football League Players Association in the 2011 NFL lockout.

In 2009, Olson joined with President Bill Clinton's former attorney David Boies, who was his opposing counsel in Bush v Gore, to bring a federal lawsuit, Perry v Schwarzenegger, challenging Proposition 8, a California state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

In 2014, Olson received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Brendan V Sullivan, Jr.

Theodore Olson represented New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the Deflategate scandal, which ended with Brady electing not to pursue Supreme Court appeal of a four-game suspension.

In 2017, Theodore Olson represented a group of billboard advertisers in a lawsuit against the City of San Francisco.

In March 2018, Theodore Olson turned down an offer to represent Donald Trump in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In November 2019, Olson represented the DACA recipients in the Supreme court case Department of Homeland Security v Regents of the University of California.

In 2023, Theodore Olson wrote in an op-ed that the US should conclude the criminal cases of the remaining defendants.

On October 21,2006, Theodore Olson married Lady Evelyn Booth, a tax attorney from Kentucky and a lifelong Democrat.

Theodore Olson died of a stroke at a hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, on November 13,2024, at the age of 84.

Theodore Olson served on the board of directors of The American Spectator magazine.

Theodore Olson was a prominent critic of Bill Clinton's presidency, and he helped prepare the attorneys of Paula Jones prior to their Supreme Court appearance.

Theodore Olson served on Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign as its judicial committee chairman.

Theodore Olson was an outspoken advocate for gay marriage in the Republican Party.

In September 2007, Theodore Olson was considered by the Bush administration for the post of Attorney General to succeed Alberto Gonzales.

Theodore Olson, who served as Ronald Reagan's assistant attorney general from 1981 to 1983, recommended that Reagan invoke executive privilege to prevent a Democratic Party-led investigation into the scandal-ridden Superfund program.

Theodore Olson was then investigated by an independent counsel for allegedly providing false testimony to Congress, which some have termed as perjury, in an effort to conceal his own wrongdoing.

Theodore Olson was a prominent figure in the Arkansas Project, which used the tax-exempt The American Spectator to transfer over $2 million to private investigators digging out anti-Clinton trash.

Theodore Olson suggested that officials of the Clinton administration were involved in illegal activities and compared the White House to a Mafia family in anonymous pieces for the Spectator.

Theodore Olson challenged California tribal gaming law, namely California's Proposition 5, from 1998 on.

In January 2022, Theodore Olson began representing Maverick Gaming, a Las Vegas-based, in a challenge to gaming compacts in Washington state that gave exclusivity to more than a dozen Washington tribes for sports betting.