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Richard Olson
Richard W. Olson, JD is a Director in Federal Government Affairs with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP.
Since 1995, Richard worked across various branches of government at the state and federal levels – including the Illinois State Senate and the Illinois Office of the Governor Federal Office in Washington, DC. After serving with the prestigious Committee on Energy & Commerce in the U.S. House of Representatives as a legal fellow in 2003, he joined the regulation writing team at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services – tasked with authoring federal regulations on the Medicare Modernization Act. From there, Richard became the policy advisor on health and education to Congresswoman Sue Kelly (R-NY). After serving nearly 13 years in public service, he joined AstraZeneca in 2007.
Richard is no stranger to expanding what is included within traditional, more conservative philosophies. As an Associate Director in Federal Government Affairs, he represented AstraZeneca on Capitol Hill. Most notably, Richard led the company in creating a highly visible platform relating to insurance coverage for mental illness, which resulted in the passage of a federal mental health parity law. Those efforts positioned AstraZeneca as a leading pharmaceutical company in the mental health policy arena. Along with his colleagues, he successfully advocated internally and across the industry to set aside more conservative business models and to embrace the opportunity to abandon the stigma surrounding mental illness. The end result was better education and a more comprehensive understanding that led to greater inclusion and agreement on the fiscal and social aspects of this very important issue.
In 2009, with strong evidence of his leadership and strategic focus, Richard was promoted to Director in Federal Government Affairs and currently leads the company’s team focused on government reimbursement in Medicare & Medicaid.
Richard was raised on a grain and livestock farm in central Illinois. He was introduced to the fiscally conservative, small government ideals of the Republican Party as a youngster campaigning for his uncle who served in the Illinois General Assembly. His father’s hard work and capitalistic values on the farm combined with his mother’s dedication and drive in her involvement at the local and state level of Republican politics developed Richard’s unique appreciation for Republican principles. Those core values combined with his distinct ability to expand the moderate understanding of his peers and stretch the limits of inclusion make Richard the Republican he is today.
He is a graduate of the University of Illinois (2000) with a BA in Speech Communication and the University of Illinois – College of Law (2004). Richard is the author of “Consumer Choice on Drugs: Medicare and Medications”, which appears in the book Consumer Choice: Social Welfare and Health Policy.
He resides in Washington, DC with his partner, Jason.
