Ted Olson Biography Quotes 11 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education

Theodore B. Olson, born in 1940 in the United States, became one of the most influential American appellate advocates of his generation. He studied at the University of the Pacific, earning his undergraduate degree, and went on to receive a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Those years shaped a meticulous legal mind and a measured courtroom style that would later be recognized at the highest levels of American law.

Early Legal Career and Government Service

After law school, Olson joined the firm that became Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he built a reputation for clear writing and strategic litigation. His work in complex appellate matters led to leadership roles within the firm, including guiding its Washington, D.C. presence. He first entered national public service during the administration of President Ronald Reagan, serving as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel from 1981 to 1984. In that role he advised the executive branch on constitutional and statutory questions that touched every department of government.

Morrison v. Olson and Constitutional Debates
Olson became a central figure in one of the most consequential separation-of-powers disputes of the late twentieth century. After the appointment of independent counsel Alexia Morrison to investigate matters related to his congressional testimony, he challenged the constitutionality of the independent counsel statute. The Supreme Court's decision in Morrison v. Olson upheld the statute, with Justice Antonin Scalia issuing a famous lone dissent. The case, bearing Olson's name, placed him at the heart of a defining debate over executive authority and accountability that continued to influence legal scholarship and practice for decades.

Supreme Court Advocacy and Bush v. Gore
By the 1990s, Olson was widely known as a leading Supreme Court advocate. He argued major cases spanning administrative, constitutional, and election law. His national profile rose further in 2000 when he argued on behalf of George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore, the election dispute that effectively settled the presidential race. On the other side was David Boies, a courtroom adversary who, in an unexpected historical turn, would later become Olson's ally in a landmark civil rights case. The intensity of that period connected Olson with prominent figures in law and politics, including Chief Justice William Rehnquist and the justices who presided over the disputes.

Solicitor General of the United States

In 2001, Olson was appointed Solicitor General of the United States by President George W. Bush. As the federal government's chief courtroom advocate before the Supreme Court, he supervised the nation's most important appellate litigation. His tenure encompassed an era marked by urgent national security, statutory, and constitutional issues. In this position he followed Seth Waxman and was later succeeded by Paul Clement, placing him within a lineage of influential Solicitors General who shaped the trajectory of Supreme Court doctrine.

Marriage Equality and Later Causes

Although long associated with conservative legal circles and the Federalist Society, Olson took on causes that crossed conventional political lines. After leaving the Solicitor General's office and returning to private practice at Gibson Dunn, he successfully argued Citizens United v. FEC, a campaign finance case with sweeping implications for political speech. Notably, he also joined David Boies to challenge California's Proposition 8, representing couples seeking marriage equality. Working with advocates such as Chad Griffin, the effort culminated in the restoration of marriage rights in California after the Supreme Court determined that the initiative's proponents lacked standing to appeal. Olson and Boies later chronicled their effort, presenting a constitutional argument focused on liberty and equality.

Personal Life and Influence

Olson's personal life intersected with national tragedy. His wife, Barbara Olson, a prominent commentator and lawyer, died in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The loss reverberated through Washington and the legal community, where Barbara Olson had been a vivid presence. In time, Olson remarried, to Lady Booth Olson, herself a lawyer, and continued to devote energy to appellate advocacy and public service. Colleagues and adversaries alike recognized his civility in argument, disciplined briefs, and ability to distill complex issues into clear questions of principle.

Legacy and Public Voice

Over decades, Olson argued dozens of cases before the Supreme Court and advised clients and institutions on high-stakes questions at the intersection of law and policy. His work connected him to a wide array of figures in American public life, from President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush to jurists, advocates, and journalists who shaped debates on executive power, elections, speech, and equality. The through-line in his career is a sustained engagement with constitutional structure and individual rights, marked by rigorous advocacy, respect for the Court as an institution, and a willingness to partner across ideological divides when the Constitution's guarantees were at stake.