Wendy J. Olson
{{short description|American lawyer}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Wendy J. Olson
|image = WendyJOlson.jpg
|office = United States Attorney for the District of Idaho
|president = Barack Obama
Donald Trump
|term_start = June 25, 2010
|term_end = February 25, 2017
|predecessor = Thomas E. Moss
|successor = Bart Davis
|birth_name = Wendy Jo Olson{{Cite web|url=https://www.stoel.com/people/wendy-j-olson|title=Wendy J. Olson | White Collar Criminal Defense Attorney | Boise, Idaho | Stoel Rives LLP}}
|birth_date = {{birth year and age|1964|07|}}
|birth_place = Pocatello, Idaho, U.S.
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party =
|spouse = Craig Kreiser
|children = 2
|residence =
|education = Drake University (BA)
Stanford University (JD)
|religion =
}}
Wendy J. Olson (born 1964) is an American lawyer who served as a United States attorney for the District of Idaho from 2010 to 2017. She was appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama, replacing Thomas E. Moss. As one of 93 United States attorneys, she represented the government in all civil and criminal cases within her district.
Early life and education
Olson was born in Pocatello, Idaho, and attended Pocatello High School.{{cn|date=July 2024}} Olson attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in 1986.{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=I. B. R.|date=2017-02-27|title=Wendy J. Olson joins Stoel Rives as partner|url=https://idahobusinessreview.com/2017/02/27/wendy-j-olson-joins-stoel-rives-as-partner/|access-date=2021-08-24|website=Idaho Business Review|language=en-US}} She served as an intern in the sports department of the Los Angeles Times before leaving to attend Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, California. She graduated from Stanford with a Juris Doctor in 1990. She interned with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, the Student Press Law Center, and the Media Access Project.{{cite web|url=http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/03/12/meet-wendy-j-olson/ |title=Meet Wendy J. Olson |publisher=Main Justice |date=2010-03-12 |accessdate=2014-02-13}}
Career
Olson served as a law clerk for Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein on the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington for two years immediately after finishing law school. She served as a trial attorney and later Deputy Director of the National Church Arson Task Force in the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division from 1992 to 1997. From 1994 to 1997, she also worked part-time as an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School.
In 1997, Olson joined the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Idaho, rising to the rank of Senior Litigation Counsel at the time of her appointment in 2010.{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao/id/meetattorney.html |title=USDOJ: US Attorney's Office - District of Idaho |publisher=Justice.gov |date=2010-06-25 |accessdate=2014-02-13}}
After Olson resigned in 2017, she joined the Boise office of Stoel Rives, a law firm that operates in the Pacific Northwest.{{Cite web|url=http://www.stoel.com/wolson|title=Wendy J. Olson|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.stoel.com/events-press-releases/press-releases/2017/stoel-rives-welcomes-wendy-j-olson-as-partner-in|title=Stoel Rives Welcomes Wendy J. Olson as Partner in Litigation Practice|last=|first=|date=27 February 2017|website=|access-date=}} In 2021, Olson was included on a shortlist of possible nominees to succeed Judge B. Lynn Winmill.{{Cite web|date=2021-08-23|title=Federal judge takes senior status, but no appointee named|url=https://apnews.com/article/idaho-boise-1ded8bf7be32de1894d42876870cb780|access-date=2021-08-24|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/eye-on-boise-gop-senators-reviewing-possible-federal-judge-nominees/article_81b9535f-bbbf-522d-87f4-d7d824f20a7d.html|title=Eye on Boise: GOP senators reviewing possible federal judge nominees|first=By BETSY Z. RUSSELL|last=brussell@idahopress.com|website=Idaho Press|date=29 January 2022 }}
In 2024, Olson made national headlines when she represented Eric Posey, who accused a far-right blogger of defamation after she falsely claimed he had exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-25 |title=Idaho drag performer awarded $1.1 million in defamation case against far-right blogger |url=https://apnews.com/article/drag-performer-defamation-blogger-idaho-c0f3188081e17843059b27d19d5be980?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=AP News |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Fortin |first=Jacey |date=2024-05-26 |title=Idaho Drag Performer Wins Over $1.1 Million in Defamation Suit Against Blogger |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/26/us/eric-posey-drag-performer-defamation-case.html |access-date=2025-04-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} A Kootenai County jury awarded Posey more than $1.1 million.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-28 |title=Idaho drag performer awarded $1.1 million in defamation suit against blogger |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/idaho-drag-performer-awarded-11-million-defamation-suit-blogger-rcna154287 |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=NBC News |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Thomas E. Moss}}
{{s-ttl|title=United States Attorney for the District of Idaho|years=2010–2017}}
{{s-aft|after=Bart Davis
}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Wendy J.}}
Category:20th-century American women lawyers
Category:20th-century American lawyers
Category:21st-century American women lawyers
Category:21st-century American lawyers
Category:Drake University alumni
Category:People from Pocatello, Idaho