Stephen Olson is currently a senior adjunct fellow at the Pacific Forum, a non-profit foreign policy research institute based in Honolulu, Hawaii. From 2014 to 2024, Olson was a research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore where he conducted analysis and provided commentary on a range of trade and globalization issues. He is quoted regularly in leading publications such as the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times and has appeared on BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, and other major networks. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum Global Futures Council for International Trade. As a Yeutter Institute Visiting Lecturer, Olson has twice taught an online mini-course on "Tensions in US-China Trade and Global Order," which he is expanding into a three-credit course to be offered in the fall 2024 semester.
He began his career in Washington DC as an international trade negotiator and served on the US negotiating team for the NAFTA negotiations. He subsequently became president of the Hong Kong-based Pacific Basin Economic Council, and vice-chairman of Cairo-based ARTOC Group for investment and development. He was previously a visiting scholar at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He has a master’s degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. from the State University of New York.