Theodore Olson

Theodore Olson

Theodore Bevry Olson (born September 11, 1940) was the 42nd United States Solicitor General, serving from June 2001 to July 2004.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Olson completed his undergraduate degree at the University of the Pacific. After earning his law degree from Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, he worked as an associate and a partner in the Los Angeles, CA office of the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He then served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Reagan administration and re-entered private practice as a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Olson successfully represented George W. Bush in the case Bush v. Gore, which effectively determined the final result of the contested 2000 Presidential election.

He was nominated to the Office of Solicitor General by President Bush on February 14, 2001, confirmed by the United States Senate on May 24, 2001, and took office on June 11, 2001.

Olson's wife, Barbara K. Olson, was a passenger on the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 (his 61^st birthday).

Prior to President Bush's nomination of D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Roberts, Olson was considered a potential nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's post. Following the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' nomination for that post, and prior to the nomination of Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Samuel Alito, Olson's name was again mentioned as a possible nominee.

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Preceded by: Seth P. Waxman	Solicitor General 2001–2004	Succeeded by: Paul Clement