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.

Read full bio.

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 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.

Close bio

Number of Unemployed Rises by 76,000

Henry Olsen

The employment rate has fallen farther and faster in this recession than at any time in the last thirty years and it continues to drop.

Articles

AEI Online / November 5, 2010

Republican Reliance on White Voters Holds Risks

Henry Olsen

This week’s historic Republican landslide is due to a massive swing among white working-class independents in rural and exurban areas, rather than an enthusiasm gap between Republican and Democratic supporters, as the party predicted.

Articles

Bloomberg News / November 3, 2010

Day of the Democratic Dead

Henry Olsen

The anger, disappointment, and disgust that the voters will shower on the Obama administration and the Democratic congressional leadership is unusually deep, offering today’s conservatives a rendezvous with destiny.

Articles

National Review Online / November 1, 2010

House Sleepers

Henry Olsen

In every wave year, the winning party ends up grabbing seats that just a short time before the election were on no one’s radar screen, and there are five such races where the GOP could spring a surprise this election.

Articles

National Review Online / October 15, 2010

The 70 Percent Rule

Henry Olsen

In wave years, such as this one, approximately 70 percent of the seats in play on Election Day are usually carried by the victorious party.

Articles

National Review Online / October 14, 2010

Employment Rate Remains Stagnant with Little Cause for Hope

Henry Olsen

The employment rate is a better reflection of the bleak future facing American workers than the unemployment rate, and a new report gives Americans little cause for hope.

Articles

AEI Online / October 8, 2010

GOP Heaven, West Virginia?

Henry Olsen

For all the talk about independents and tea parties, the defining characteristic of this election is the revolt of the white working class, which may determine the outcome of the Senate election in West Virginia.

Articles

National Review Online / October 1, 2010

The Fifty Years’ War

Henry Olsen

This fall’s election will be the most intense battle yet between conservatives and liberals for possession of America’s political soul and over what defines American freedom.

Articles

National Review Online / September 30, 2010

As Sweden Goes . . .

Henry Olsen

An unexpected Swedish victory is just the latest in an unprecedented run of success worldwide for fiscally conservative parties, beginning after the Greek debt crisis in April, which should sound both optimistic and cautionary notes for GOP leaders.

Articles

The Weekly Standard / September 27, 2010

The Big Drop: Employment Rate Cause for Concern

Henry Olsen

Friday’s labor report is the latest confirmation that our economy is sputtering, and a deeper look at the little-known civilian employment-population ratio, presents what may be a more revealing and troublesome picture.

Articles

AEI Online / September 3, 2010

Unemployment: What Would Reagan Do?

Henry Olsen

A look at the civilian employment-population ratio gives a better picture of how hard it is going to be for the United States to recover from financial crisis, and explains why Ronald Reagan’s approach to job creation would be better suited to spur recovery.

Articles

Wall Street Journal / August 10, 2010

Populism, American Style

Henry Olsen

The significance and potential of the Tea Party movement can only be understood by examining populism in its unique manifestation in the United States, where its history is both consoling and cautionary about this modern populist movement.

Articles

National Affairs / June 21, 2010

Sign up here to receive updates from Henry Olsen.