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.
Trump Wants a Witch Hunt. Are Democrats About to Give It to Him?
Henry Olsen
President Trump has long portrayed the Mueller investigation and efforts to remove him from office as a political witch hunt. The best thing that could happen to him is for House Democrats to try to impeach him based on evidence that American swing voters find unconvincing.
Articles
The Washington Post / January 4, 2019
Trump Won’t Lose in a Long Shutdown
Henry Olsen
Americans didn’t want the government to be shut down, but now that it is, they’re likely to want a deal to get it back open. That plays into President Trump’s hands — as long as he demonstrates that he’s willing to deal, too.
Articles
The Washington Post / January 3, 2019
Leftward Shift
Henry Olsen
If President Trump and Republicans want to win the election, they must improve their level of support among the weakly churched segments of America.
Articles
World Magazine / January 2, 2019
Mitt Romney’s Op-Ed Crystallizes All the Reasons the Old GOP Establishment Has Been Pushed Aside
Henry Olsen
Anyone who wants to lead today’s Republican Party must reckon with the concerns of voters—including millions of working-class supporters of President Trump—and create a future America that these Americans can feel at home in. Sadly, Mitt Romney does not appear to be up to that task.
Articles
The Washington Post / January 2, 2019
Can Ohio’s Sherrod Brown Return the Dems to Blue-Collar Roots?
Henry Olsen
Many observers think that Sherrod Brown could be a formidable opponent for President Trump should he gain the Democratic nomination. The evidence, however, suggests that might be easier said than done.
Articles
American Greatness / December 27, 2018
Another Government Shutdown … and Another Good Gamble by Trump
Henry Olsen
Forcing a shutdown over the wall is not likely to gain President Trump or the GOP much support, but it reinforces their position with their own voters. That’s a good thing to do this far out from the election, and sets up possible shifts to the center on other issues as goodwill has been increased first among the base.
Articles
The Washington Post / December 22, 2018
Trump Is Now Forging Foreign Policy on His Own. Where Will He Take Us?
Henry Olsen
Many problems in the world need U.S. power to fix, but many don’t. President Trump’s breaks with consensus will likely intensify, and that will force defenders of the bipartisan foreign policy consensus to rethink the nature of that order.
Articles
The Washington Post / December 21, 2018
Trump Won’t Get a Deal with a Border Wall. Here’s a Better Approach.
Henry Olsen
Building the wall won’t expand President Trump’s political support, nor will it solve the real problem we have with illegal immigration.
Articles
The Washington Post / December 18, 2018
Brexit Would Be Hard for Britain. Staying in the E.U. Would Be Worse.
Henry Olsen
Whatever challenges Brexit poses for the United Kingdom, they pale in comparison to those that will confront it if it remains in the European Union given the continent’s own problems.
Articles
The Washington Post / December 14, 2018
Les Macronables?
Henry Olsen
While French President Emmanuel Macron is not a king, the slow motion popular resistance to his rule is more than a little reminiscent of the slow leaking of royal authority that predated the storming of the Bastille.
Articles
American Greatness / December 12, 2018
Target 2020: the Independent Male Voter
Henry Olsen
Suburban men fled the GOP in the midterms, and they will likely determine the next presidential election.
Articles
City Journal / November 30, 2018
A Bad Beat for Republicans—But Not Fraud
Henry Olsen
Plenty of Republicans and Trump fans are crying foul at the number of congressional seats that have moved towards the Democrats since Election Day. I understand why people are upset—but there’s no hanky panky afoot. Our election system is broken, but it is not saturated with fraud.
Articles
American Greatness / November 29, 2018
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