For media inquiries or to book Mr. Olsen for an interview, contact Josh Britton at jbritton@eppc.org or 202-715-3493.
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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 was previously an editor at UnHerd.com and a regular contributor to American Greatness, City Journal, and World Magazine. Mr. Olsen’s work has been featured in many prominent publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The 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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PUBLICATIONS
Calls for Impeaching Kavanaugh Are Damaging Our Democracy
Published in The Washington Post on September 16, 2019
The Three Big Winners of the Houston Debate
Published in The Washington Post on September 13, 2019
The Great Tory Realignment Was Bound to Happen
Published in The Washington Post on September 9, 2019
Ruin or Renewal? Thoughts on America’s Third Century
Published in Law and Liberty on September 3, 2019
Britain Is on the Verge of a Constitutional Crisis
Published in The Washington Post on September 3, 2019
Trump’s New Tax Idea Would Devastate Him Politically
Published in The Washington Post on September 2, 2019
The Burning Amazon Shows Exactly What’s Wrong with the Developed World’s Approach to Climate Change
Published in The Washington Post on August 27, 2019
U.S. Business Leaders Have Taken a Step to Finally Renew the American Social Compact
Published in The Washington Post on August 20, 2019
Yes, Undocumented Immigrants Take Jobs from Americans. Here’s the Proof.
Published in The Washington Post on August 16, 2019
Elizabeth Warren Is Gaining Ground. But Her Path to the Nomination Is Harder Than You Think.
Published in The Washington Post on August 15, 2019
If China Cracks Down on Hong Kong, Trump Should Extend His Tariffs
Published in The Washington Post on August 12, 2019
Republicans Are Howling About Government Spending yet Again. Here’s What They Get Wrong.
Published in The Washington Post on July 23, 2019
Conservatives Are Still Grappling with the Trump Era. And Many Haven’t yet Learned Their Lesson.
Published in The Washington Post on July 22, 2019
Democrats Should Confront Their Revolutionaries Before It’s Too Late
Published in The Washington Post on July 16, 2019
The Real Reason the 2020 Census Should Include a Citizenship Question
Published in The Washington Post on July 14, 2019
The World Doesn’t Hate Trump’s America as Much as People Think
Published in The Washington Post on July 9, 2019
If the Latest Polls Are Right, Trump Is Favored to Win Reelection
Published in The Washington Post on July 8, 2019
How Does a Center-Right Think Tank Approach Conservatism in the Trump Era?
Published in The Washington Post on July 3, 2019
We Don’t Know If Trump’s Foreign Policy Will Work. but at Least He’s Challenging the Status Quo.
Published in The Washington Post on July 1, 2019
Trump Is Living up to His Populist Promise
Published in The Washington Post on June 25, 2019
The Trump Campaign Has a Terrible 2020 Strategy
Published in The Washington Post on June 21, 2019
Trump’s Chances in 2020 Aren’t Nearly as Bad as People Think
Published in The Washington Post on June 17, 2019
Conservative Elites Love to Defend Market Orthodoxy. Don’t Fall for It.
Published in The Washington Post on June 11, 2019
How Republicans Could Regain Lost House Seats in 2020
Published in The Washington Post on June 7, 2019
Mitt Romney Is Congressional Republicans’ Secret Weapon on Trade
Published in The Washington Post on June 6, 2019
Joe Biden’s Climate Change Plan Is a Gift for Trump
Published in The Washington Post on June 5, 2019
Where in the World is Joe Biden?
Published in The Washington Post on May 28, 2019
Australia’s Shocking Election Offers a Warning to Democrats
Published in The Washington Post on May 23, 2019
Trump’s Immigration Plan Has One Key Fault
Published in The Washington Post on May 16, 2019
California Wants to Teach Kindergartners About Gender Identity. Seriously.
Published in The Washington Post on May 13, 2019
Trump’s Critics Were Wrong. He’s Not a Madman in Foreign Policy.
Published in The Washington Post on May 10, 2019
‘Make America Great Again’ Is the Right Message. But It Needs to Be for Everyone.
Published in The Washington Post on May 9, 2019
If the Economy Keeps Its Momentum, 2020 Will Be Trump’s to Lose
Published in The Washington Post on May 3, 2019
Republicans Want Trump to Give up on His Tariffs. He Shouldn’t Budge.
Published in The Washington Post on April 30, 2019
Trumpism Isn’t Going Away. Europe Proves It.
Published in The Washington Post on April 29, 2019
Courts Can’t Solve Our Gerrymandering Problem. Take It from a Former Gerrymanderer.
Published in The Washington Post on April 26, 2019
Trump’s Greatest Threat Has Arrived
Published in The Washington Post on April 25, 2019
Democrats Want to Expand Welfare by Soaking the Rich. That Doesn’t Add Up.
Published in The Washington Post on April 15, 2019
Biden and Sanders Are the Front-Runners. They’ll Need Different Voters to Win.
Published in The Washington Post on April 8, 2019
Trump Has Two Big Problems in 2020: Pennsylvania and Michigan
Published in The Washington Post on April 5, 2019
A Supreme Court Race in Wisconsin Becomes a Good Omen for Trump
Published in The Washington Post on April 3, 2019
If Democrats Want to Protect the Rule of Law, They Can’t Rush the Mueller Report
Published in The Washington Post on March 29, 2019
So Trump Wants to Make the Gop the ‘Party of Health Care’? Here’s How to Do It.
Published in The Washington Post on March 28, 2019
What Do Israeli and U.S. Politics Have in Common? National Identity Crises.
Published in The Washington Post on March 26, 2019
Revolt of the Somewheres
Published in The American Mind on March 25, 2019
Conservatives: Think Before You Defend the Electoral College
Published in The Washington Post on March 21, 2019
No, Religion Is Not Antithetical to Liberalism
Published in The Washington Post on March 20, 2019
Progressive Candidates Help One Person: Trump
Published in The Washington Post on March 18, 2019
Now More Than Ever, Trump Must Protect and Stand by Muslims
Published in The Washington Post on March 15, 2019
The Federal Budget Process Is a Disaster. It’s Time to Finally Dump It.
Published in The Washington Post on March 12, 2019
Justin Trudeau’s Scandal Offers a Key Lesson for U.S. Democrats
Published in The Washington Post on March 6, 2019
Trump Has Given North Korea a Valuable Bargaining Chip for Free
Published in The Washington Post on March 5, 2019
Nancy Pelosi Hasn’t Learned Her Lesson from 2010
Published in The Washington Post on March 1, 2019
The GOP Is the Party of Trump — but Not for the Reasons Anti-Trump Conservatives Think
Published in The Washington Post on February 26, 2019
Don’t Fool Yourself. the Political Center Won’t Recover Anytime Soon.
Published in The Washington Post on February 22, 2019
Bernie Sanders Is Probably Just Another One-Hit Wonder
Published in The Washington Post on February 19, 2019
U.S.-European Relations Are on the Rocks. They Won’t Get Better Anytime Soon.
Published in The Washington Post on February 18, 2019
Trump Is Taking a Huge Gamble on the Wall
Published in The Washington Post on February 15, 2019
The Green New Deal Is a Declaration of an Unwinnable ‘World War G’
Published in The Washington Post on February 13, 2019
Amy Klobuchar is Trump’s Worst Nightmare
Published in The Washington Post on February 11, 2019
Trump Delivered the Best, Most Reaganesque Speech of His Tenure
Published in The Washington Post on February 5, 2019
2020 Vision
Published in World Magazine on January 31, 2019
Start Your Primary Engines
Published in City Journal on January 29, 2019
Trump’s ‘America First’ policy could work in Venezuela
Published in The Washington Post on January 24, 2019
An Artful Immigration Deal Would Trade ‘Amnesty’ for the Wall
Published in American Greatness on January 22, 2019
The Counterrevolution to Populism Is Happening All over the World
Published in The Washington Post on January 21, 2019
What’s the Best Way to Respond to China’s Economic and Military Might?
Published in The Washington Post on January 15, 2019
John Bolton Is Under Attack
Published in The Washington Post on January 14, 2019
The GOP Must Stamp out the Seeds of Hatred Before It’s Too Late
Published in The Washington Post on January 11, 2019
Trump Might Win His Trade War with China
Published in The Washington Post on January 10, 2019
The Manafort Revelations Raise a Haunting Question for Trump
Published in The Washington Post on January 9, 2019
Market Fundamentalism or Love of Country?
Published in American Greatness on January 8, 2019
Trump is Threatening to Go Around Congress to Get His Wall. History Shows He’ll Fail.
Published in The Washington Post on January 7, 2019
Trump Wants a Witch Hunt. Are Democrats About to Give It to Him?
Published in The Washington Post on January 4, 2019
Trump Won’t Lose in a Long Shutdown
Published in The Washington Post on January 3, 2019