DARCY OLSEN
Title
President and CEO, the Goldwater Institute
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Background
Darcy Olsen is President of the Goldwater Institute, a research and legal center that Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will heralds as “the best in the liberty business.” The Goldwater Institute is currently spearheading the Right to Try initiative, a state-level measure that gives terminally ill patients access to potentially life-saving medicines. Under the current system, terminally ill patients have to wait to gain access to new treatments, which can take over a decade to make it to market. Twenty four states have adopted this life saving measure. Olsen has received numerous awards and recognitions including a 2014 Bradley Prize, which recognizes individuals of extraordinary talent and dedication who seek to preserve and defend the institutions of free government and private enterprise, and the national Roe Award for achievement in public policy. One of her most unexpected awards was when Hockey Magazine named her the “64th most powerful person in hockey” for her leading role in blocking a multi-million-dollar subsidy to an NHL team. A graduate of Georgetown University and New York University, Olsen unofficially started her public policy career at 11 years old, when she went door-to-door gathering signatures on a homemade petition to stop animal abuse. Born in Vermont, raised in Utah, Olsen resides in Arizona. She is a foster mother, and adoptive mother of four.
mkelley@goldwaterinstitute.org
Areas of Expertise
Education, Public Policy & Law
“see her speak”
