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 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 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.
No, Donald Trump Probably Can’t Take Down Kevin McCarthy
Henry Olsen
Many Republican members will owe their victories to McCarthy’s millions, and they will not lightly throw away the goose laying their golden eggs.
Articles
The Washington Post / June 28, 2022
The Heart of the Abortion Debate: What is Human Life?
Henry Olsen
My friends in the pro-life movement need to understand that we start this debate in the minority position.
Articles
Washington Post / June 28, 2022
Macron has lost his parliamentary majority. That shouldn’t be surprising.
Henry Olsen
European elites like to boast they stand for democracy, but democracy starts at home.
Articles
The Washington Post / June 22, 2022
The GOP must make it clear: Eric Greitens’s ad is out of bounds
Henry Olsen
Have you no sense of decency?
Articles
The Washington Post / June 22, 2022
Trump is Gambling Big in Wisconsin and Arizona. Losses There Could be Painful.
Henry Olsen
After his defeat in Georgia, he needs to win with both to remain strong.
Articles
Washington Post / June 9, 2022
The Question is No Longer Whether Boris Johnson Goes, but When
Henry Olsen
Johnson, neither loyal nor steady, has thrown away what he had built.
Articles
The Washington Post / June 7, 2022
The GOP midterm wave is set — and Democrats can’t do anything about it
Henry Olsen
Democrats desperately want to believe this won’t happen to them.
Articles
Washington Post / June 2, 2022
Biden just admitted he doesn’t have a clue how to fight inflation
Henry Olsen
This isn’t an inflation-fighting plan. It’s a bait-and-switch to get an exasperated public to buy the same bill of goods he has been peddling all along.
Articles
Washington Post / June 2, 2022
Georgia’s Primaries Were a Victory for Democracy
Henry Olsen
Georgians rebuked those lying about elections — on both the right and the left.
Articles
The Washington Post / May 26, 2022
Biden is Right to Say the U.S. Should Defend Taiwan
Henry Olsen
President Biden’s declaration on Monday that the United States would defend Taiwan if China attacks is just the latest sign…
Articles
Washington Post / May 24, 2022
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