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Former U.S. Solicitor General Joins Board of National Court Organization

Williamsburg, VA (Aug. 7, 2009) – Former U.S. solicitor general Theodore B. Olson has joined the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), a nonprofit that aims to improve the administration of justice through leadership and service to the nation’s state courts. He will serve a three-year term.

“Ted Olson’s career has been marked by his service to America and his role as one of the nation’s premier courtroom advocates,” said Mary C. McQueen, NCSC president. “His knowledge of state, federal, and international courtrooms and his dedication to the rule of law will make him a valuable member of the National Center’s governing body.”

In June 2001, Olson became the 42nd solicitor general of the United States under President George W. Bush, serving as the government’s principal advocate in the U.S. Supreme Court and as a legal advisor to the president and U.S. attorney general until 2004. From 1981-84, he was assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Council under President Ronald Reagan. He also served both Bush and Reagan as private counsel.

Olson has argued more than 50 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including two stemming from the 2000 presidential election, Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board and Bush v. Gore. With the exception of his federal service, Olson has practiced law with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in the firm’s Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., offices since 1965.

He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Olson serves as co-chair of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and the Steering Committee for the Sandra Day O’Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary.

Born in Chicago, Ill., and raised in California, Olson received his bachelor’s cum laude from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., and his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit court reform organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. The National Center, founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, provides education, training, and technology, management, and research services to the nation's state courts.  

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National Center for State Courts, 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg, VA  23185-4147