Henry Olsen

Senior Fellow

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies and provides commentary on American politics. His work focuses on how America’s political order is being upended by populist challenges, from the left and the right. He also studies populism’s impact in other democracies in the developed world.

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For media inquiries or to book Mr. Olsen for an interview, contact [email protected].

Click here to view the full archive of Mr. Olsen’s writings at The Washington Post.

Click here to view the full archive of Mr. Olsen’s writings at National Review Online.

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies and provides commentary on American politics. His work focuses on how America’s political order is being upended by populist challenges, from the left and the right. He also studies populism’s impact in other democracies in the developed world.

Mr. Olsen is an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, where he writes daily pieces focusing on politics, populism, foreign affairs and American conservative thought. He is also the author of The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism and The Four Faces of the Republican Party, co-authored with Dante Scala.

Mr. Olsen is teaching as the Thomas W. Smith Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Arizona State University for the Winter/Spring 2023 semester.

Mr. Olsen was previously an editor at UnHerd.com and a regular contributor to American GreatnessCity Journal, and World Magazine. Mr. Olsen’s work has been featured in many prominent publications, including The New York TimesThe Wall Street JournalNational ReviewThe Guardian, and The Weekly Standard.

His predictions of the 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 elections were particularly praised for their remarkable accuracy. In the 2016 campaign, he accurately identified the factors fueling the rise of Donald Trump early in the race, and his election-eve predictions were among the most accurate of any major analyst or commentator.

Mr. Olsen has worked in senior executive positions at many center-right think tanks. He most recently served from 2006 to 2013 as Vice President and Director, National Research Initiative, at the American Enterprise Institute. He previously worked as Vice President of Programs at the Manhattan Institute and President of the Commonwealth Foundation.

Mr. Olsen started his career as a political consultant at the California firm of Hoffenblum-Mollrich. He then worked with the California State Assembly Republican Caucus before attending law school. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Danny J. Boggs on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and as an associate at Dechert, Price & Rhoads. He has a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where he served as Comment Editor for the University of Chicago Law Review.

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There’s a Good Reason Haley’s Still Running – And It’s Not Trump’s Legal Problems

Henry Olsen

Defeated candidates can still deploy their delegates to obstruct the winner’s will by posing contentious amendments to the party platform or by using their nominating speeches to criticize the nominee.

Articles

POLITICO / February 28, 2024

Trump won the battle for South Carolina – but may lose the war

Henry Olsen

Despite his win in Haley’s home state, the former president’s popularity is on shaky ground

Articles

The Telegraph / February 26, 2024

The peasants are revolting: This year’s farmer protests are a mere foretaste of what is…

Henry Olsen

Farmers may be only a small part of the population, but they wield outsized influence everywhere for cultural and economic reasons.

Articles

Brussels Signal / February 22, 2024

ASU SCETL Deserves Continued Funding

Henry Olsen

Any sensible venture capitalist will tell you to fund success, not starve it.

Articles

Western Tribune / February 22, 2024

If Fidesz joins the ECR that would be good for Hungary – and good for…

Henry Olsen

Fidesz’s current status as a non inscrits party severely limits its ability to influence debate and policy.

Articles

Brussels Signal / February 20, 2024

Biden must risk his party’s wrath to secure Ukraine’s future

Henry Olsen

The beleaguered foreign aid funding bill isn’t out of the woods yet. The president must show leadership.

Articles

The Telegraph / February 14, 2024

Trump ‘sees dead people’ but as in the movie Haley may be one of them…

Henry Olsen

Haley has faced a daunting challenge from day one. She represents the GOP’s Old Guard, the segment of the party that still reveres Ronald Reagan and wants to turn back the clock to the pre-Trump Republican Party.

Articles

The Telegraph / February 8, 2024

A Longtime Advantage Has Vanished for the Democrats

Henry Olsen

Republicans hold a partisan lead because more independents lean toward them rather than feeling any enthusiasm for the brand.

Articles

National Review / February 1, 2024

Trump can’t stop repeating his election fraud lies. That’s a problem for November

Henry Olsen

When Donald lies, the GOP dies: a failure to grapple with the fallout of 2020 might hand Biden a second term.

Articles

The Telegraph / January 31, 2024

2024 could be the year the European consensus is finally shattered by a continent-wide populist…

Henry Olsen

National elections pose an even brighter picture of populists.

Articles

Brussels Signal / January 8, 2024

Nikki Haley’s first mistake may prove fatal

Henry Olsen

The Republican presidential candidate’s uncharacteristic misstep has turned the media tides against her Nikki Haley committed a huge unforced error…

Articles

The Telegraph / December 28, 2023

The meaning of Javier Milei

Henry Olsen

Libertarian economist Javier Milei’s smashing landslide victory is the most radical thing to happen to Argentina in decades. But his win portends more than just a free-market revolution on the pampas.

Articles

The Spectator World / December 20, 2023

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