Lyndon Olson, Jr.

The Honorable Lyndon L. Olson, Jr., former United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden, today serves as Chair of Hill+Knowlton Strategies for Europe and USA, and is Former Chair of the Board for the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.

After his appointment by President William J. Clinton as United States Ambassador from 1997 to 2001, Ambassador Olson served as a senior advisor to the chairman of Citigroup in New York. Prior to his appointment as ambassador, Mr. Olson served as chairman and CEO of Travelers Insurance Holdings in New York City. Preceding Mr. Olson’s time at Travelers Insurance Holdings, he served as president of the National Group Corporation and as CEO of its National Group Insurance Companies. In addition, Ambassador Olson served as chairman and a member of the Texas State Board of Insurance and served as president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners from 1982 to 1983.

Ambassador Olson presently serves as a commissioner and vice chairman of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, having been appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate.

Currently, Ambassador Olson serves as vice chairman of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation in Austin, Texas; he is also a member of the advisory board for the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas in Austin. He is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives and is a past president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, a past president of the Texas Lyceum, and is an active member of the Texas Philosophical Society.

Additionally, Ambassador Olson serves as chairman of the board of trustees for the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas and is a member of the board of trustees for the Baylor Scott & White Healthcare System and an emeritus trustee of the Baylor College of Medicine. Ambassador Olson is also a former member of the Advisory Committee for MD Anderson Cancer Center and former chairman of the Texas Mental Health Association.

An active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Council of American Ambassadors, Ambassador Olson is a former chairman of The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce and is presently a member of the board of trustees for The American-Scandinavian Foundation, The Jerusalem Foundation and The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, all in New York. Ambassador Olson is also a member of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Board of Trustees in Austin, Texas, and is an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Waco, Texas.

A graduate of Baylor University, Ambassador Olson served as a former chairman of the Baylor Alumni Association, former chairman of the Waco Chamber of Commerce, and currently serves as co-chair of the Greater Waco Education Alliance. Mr. Olson is a 33rd degree Grand Cross Scottish Rite Mason.