36 Facts About Theodore Olson

Previously, Olson served as the United States Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel under President Ronald Reagan.

Theodore Olson was born in Chicago, the son of Yvonne Lucy and Lester W Olson.

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

Theodore Olson attended Los Altos High School where he graduated in 1958.

Theodore Olson earned his JD degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law in 1965.

At Berkeley, Theodore Olson served as a contributor to the California Law Review and was a member of Order of the Coif.

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

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 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 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 has served on the board of directors of 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 Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign as judicial committee chairman.

Theodore Olson is one of the outspoken advocates 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 Reagan's assistant attorney general from 1981 to 1983, recommended that Reagan invoke executive privilege to prevent a Democrat-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 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.

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.