Biography: Corporate Governance

John F Olson is a founding partner of Gibson Dunn's Washington, DC office and of the firm's securities regulation and corporate governance practice group. He has chaired the American Bar Association's committees on federal regulation of securities, corporate governance and task force on regulation of insider trading and served for many years on the ABA committee on corporate laws. He has been a member of the legal advisory groups for both the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers.

Mr Olson has served as counsel to many boards of directors and board committees on a wide variety of matters for more than 30 years. He is a member of the advisory board of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program and the executive committee of the Federal Bar Association securities division.

Mr Olson was named one of the top lawyers in Washington for securities by Washingtonian Magazine and by the Legal Times and has twice been named one of the most influential people in American boardrooms by Directorship Magazine/NACD. He has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America for more than 25 years in the corporate, securities and corporate governance practice areas. He is the author of more than 100 articles and a member of the editorial advisory boards for a variety of securities and corporate law publications.

Mr Olson has taught securities regulation at Cornell Law School, corporate governance at Northwestern Law School, and is currently a distinguished visiting professor teaching advanced seminars in securities regulation and non-profit organisation governance at Georgetown Law School.