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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VIDEO: What Should Be at the Top of the Next President’s Agenda?

October 15, 2015 | Miller Center, University of Virginia

Henry Olsen takes part in an expert panel hosted by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

VIDEO: AEI Election Watch: The 2016 Contest, One Year Out

November 6, 2015 | American Enterprise Institute

EPPC Senior Fellow Henry Olsen joined a bipartisan team of experts at AEI to discuss the issues, groups, and rules that could shape the upcoming presidential and congressional contests.

GOP Debate Preview: Appearance on Bill Bennett Show

September 16, 2015 | Bill Bennett Radio Show

EPPC Senior Fellow Henry Olsen appeared on the Bill Bennett Show (with guest host Steven Hayward) on September 16, 2015, to preview the GOP presidential debate hosted by CNN.

BBC Radio Segment on 2016 GOP Primary

July 13, 2015 | BBC Radio

EPPC Senior Fellow Henry Olsen appeared on BBC Radio to present his analysis of the 2016 GOP primary field.

How Will Moderate Republicans Shape the Primaries?

July 13, 2015 | Minnesota Public Radio

EPPC Senior Fellow Henry Olsen appeared on Minnesota Public Radio to discuss the current pool of GOP presidential hopefuls and the role of moderate candidates in the upcoming debates and primaries.

The Republican Party’s Civil War: Will Freedom Win?

July 29, 2014 | Washington, D.C.

EPPC Senior Fellow Henry Olsen took part in a Cato Institute event on July 29, 2014, that explored the future…

Uniting Universal Coverage and Personal Choice: A New Direction for Health Reform

August 06, 2013 | American Enterprise Institute

The debate over US health care reform and the resulting Affordable Care Act (ACA) laid out several key priorities: (1)…

The New Deal Constitution at 75: Many Happy Returns?

April 25, 2013 | American Enterprise Institute

Arguably, the US Constitution under which we live was created not in a sweltering Philadelphia summer in 1787, but in…

Disability Insurance: Inherent Problems, Practical Solutions, and Action for Reform

April 12, 2013 | American Enterprise Institute

The growth in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) enrollment has been the subject of heated debate over the last month….

New Century, New Deal: Modern America and Its Politics

April 4, 2013 | Villanova University

This lecture, delivered by Henry Olsen at the Matthew J. Ryan Center at Villanova University, discusses why conservativism is in…

Founders Betrayed? New Threats to US Democracy and Rule of Law

November 30, 2012 | American Enterprise Institute

At an AEI symposium on Friday, three top-level conservative and libertarian legal professors discussed how the Executive Branch — specifically…

Fusion or Fissures: The Future of a Conservative Governing Coalition

November 16, 2012 | American Enterprise Institute

Barack Obama’s re-election has led many conservatives to ponder the Republican Party’s future — where should conservatism and the GOP…

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