John F. Olson

John F. Olson is a founding partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Olson represents business organizations in corporate governance, corporate securities, corporate finance and merger and acquisition matters. He has acted as special counsel for boards of directors and board committees on governance issues and in assessing shareholder litigation, responding to business combination proposals and conducting internal investigations.  He has represented corporations, broker-dealer firms and individuals in Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal agency investigations and regulatory matters. 

Mr. Olson is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Government Affairs. Mr. Olson served (2000 - 2005) as Chairman of the ABA Business Law Section's Committee on Corporate Governance, and as a member of the Presidential Task Force on Corporate Responsibility appointed by the President of the ABA. Previously, he was Chairman of the ABA's Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities (1991-1995). He is a member of the Executive Council of the Securities Committee of the Federal Bar Association.

Mr. Olson is frequently recognized as one of the nation's foremost authorities on securities, corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions law. He is ranked as one of the top securities regulation attorneys in the country by Chambers USA, has been named by the International Financial Law Review as a Leading Lawyer in U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions and by Who's Who Legal as one of the leading corporate governance practitioners in the world. Mr. Olson was named the Washington, DC Corporate Law Lawyer of the Year for 2013 and the Washington, DC Corporate Governance Law Lawyer of the Year for 2012 by The Best Lawyers in America®. Additionally, the publication has listed Mr. Olson for his corporate, securities, and governance work in every edition published since its inception 30 years ago. For the past four years (2009-2012), Mr. Olson has been selected by the National Association of Corporate Directors and Directorship magazine to its NACD Directorship 100: The Most Influential People in the Boardroom and Corporate Governance Community," in the U.S.

The author and editor of many books and articles on legal issues, Mr. Olson is a Distinguished Visitor from Practice at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches several seminars.