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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Nancy Pelosi Hasn’t Learned Her Lesson from 2010

Henry Olsen

House Democrats’ internal squabbles are more than an inside baseball battle; they indicate that the party still hasn’t figured out why they lost so badly in the 2010 midterm elections.

Articles

The Washington Post / March 1, 2019

The GOP Is the Party of Trump — but Not for the Reasons Anti-Trump Conservatives…

Henry Olsen

Anyone who seeks the Republican nomination must be responsive to the concerns of the party’s voters, both in policy and, more importantly, in tone. So far, Republican anti-Trumpers fail both tests.

Articles

The Washington Post / February 26, 2019

Don’t Fool Yourself. the Political Center Won’t Recover Anytime Soon.

Henry Olsen

Globally, the prevailing trend is rising support for anti-immigrant, nationalist populist parties — not a resurgence of the center.

Articles

The Washington Post / February 22, 2019

Bernie Sanders Is Probably Just Another One-Hit Wonder

Henry Olsen

Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2016 debut effort was the definition of catching lightning in a bottle. Today, however, Sanders’s songs are not novel.

Articles

The Washington Post / February 21, 2019

U.S.-European Relations Are on the Rocks. They Won’t Get Better Anytime Soon.

Henry Olsen

Democrats frequently decry President Trump for purportedly weakening our ties with our European allies. But a recent security conference in Germany shows that tensions between the United States and Europe would likely recur under any Republican president — and perhaps under Democratic leadership as well.

Articles

The Washington Post / February 18, 2019

Trump Is Taking a Huge Gamble on the Wall

Henry Olsen

President Trump’s announcement that he will likely declare a national emergency to get the money to build his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border will surely delight his base, but risks reinforcing negative views of him among the voters he needs to win reelection.

Articles

The Washington Post / February 15, 2019

The Green New Deal Is a Declaration of an Unwinnable ‘World War G’

Henry Olsen

The Green New Deal is exciting progressive Democrats, but that name is a misnomer. “World War G” would be more accurate because the plan commits the United States to an endless, unwinnable global quagmire.

Articles

The Washington Post / February 13, 2019

Amy Klobuchar is Trump’s Worst Nightmare

Henry Olsen

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has shown that she can appeal to both blue-collar Trump Democrats and white-collar, anti-Trump Republicans.

Articles

The Washington Post / February 11, 2019

Trump Delivered the Best, Most Reaganesque Speech of His Tenure

Henry Olsen

From start to finish in his State of the Union address, President Trump did something he rarely does: extol the virtue of the everyday American and give credit to the freedom that is our birthright

Articles

The Washington Post / February 5, 2019

2020 Vision

Henry Olsen

While it’s too early to make any strong predictions, an early glance at the 2020 Senate map suggests continued Republican control is the likeliest outcome.

Articles

World Magazine / January 31, 2019

Start Your Primary Engines

Henry Olsen

The race for the Democratic 2020 Presidential nomination has already started in earnest.

Articles

City Journal / January 29, 2019

Trump’s ‘America First’ policy could work in Venezuela

Henry Olsen

President Trump’s decision to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as that country’s president is definitely a risky move. But it’s one that is justified for both humanitarian reasons and as an expression of an “America First” foreign policy.

Articles

The Washington Post / January 24, 2019

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