
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.
For media inquiries or to book Mr. Olsen for an interview, contact [email protected].
Click here to view a full archive of Mr. Olsen’s writings.
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.
From 2019–2023, Mr. Olsen was an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, where he wrote 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 taught as the Thomas W. Smith Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Arizona State University for the Winter/Spring 2023 semester. He has taught at Villanova University, the Catholic University of America, and the Hillsdale College D.C. Graduate Studies Program.
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.
GOP front-liners shouldn’t sweat Medicaid work requirements
Henry Olsen
Centrist Republicans are said to be worried that the reconciliation bill’s proposed cuts to Medicaid spending will leave them vulnerable to Democratic attacks. They…
Articles
Washington Examiner / May 27, 2025
Mark Carney Will Lose the Standoff with Trump
Henry Olsen
Thursday’s U.K.-U.S. trade deal may give hope to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that his nation could score a similarly rapid…
Articles
National Review Online / May 24, 2025
Blow for ‘progressive’ Tusk: Anti-abortion trio receive majority in presidential vote
Henry Olsen
The Brussels elites were surely dismayed at how well conservative populist candidates fared in Sunday’s first round of Poland’s presidential…
Articles
Brussels Signal / May 20, 2025
Republicans Need Not Fear
Henry Olsen
President Trump’s plan for raising taxes on the wealthy dramatically differs from George H.W. Bush’s tax flip-flop.
Articles
Commonplace / May 14, 2025
There are signs that the GOP is avoiding the Medicaid trap
Henry Olsen
Many Republican members of Congress have been leery of cuts to Medicaid, afraid of being tarred by Democratic attack ads. The recently released House…
Articles
Washington Examiner / May 13, 2025
Post-war Conservatism is fading fast, yet the centre-right cannot grasp the fact
Henry Olsen
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s historic, embarrassing failure to be installed on the Bundestag’s first vote merely underscores an increasingly undeniable…
Articles
Brussels Signal / May 9, 2025
Why Trump Should Not Fight the Courts
Henry Olsen
The administration can turn the tables on the left.
Articles
National Review Online / May 9, 2025
The GOP can use reconciliation to disincentivize illegal immigration
Henry Olsen
The courts are significantly hampering President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants, but Republicans in Congress can use their budget reconciliation powers to help him. Courts are…
Articles
Washington Examiner / April 30, 2025
Tariffs Are Here to Stay
Henry Olsen
Even with the latest tariff ‘pause,’ Trump still holds the cards in this game.
Articles
National Review Online / April 25, 2025
Europeans have only two months left to keep the Americans in and the Russians out
Henry Olsen
Do Europeans know what time it is?
Articles
Brussels Signal / April 24, 2025
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