Biography
Richard Stuart Olson received his B.A. degree in from the University of California, Davis in 1967, an M.A. degree from UCLA in 1968, and a Ph.D. in 1974 from the University of Oregon. He spent 1965-1966 at the University of Madrid and 1968-1969 as a Fulbright student in Colombia. He is currently Director of both the Extreme Events Institute and the International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University. Professor Olson was part of a research team to the 1972 Managua, Nicaragua earthquake and was subsequently involved in disaster response, research, and evaluation in more than 20 events, including Guatemala 1976 (earthquake); Chile 1985 (earthquake); Mexico City 1985 (earthquakes); Colombia 1985 (volcanic eruption and lahar) and 1994 (earthquake and landslide); Peru and Bolivia 1996-1998 (El Niño-Southern Oscillation); the Dominican Republic 1998 (Hurricane Georges); Honduras and Nicaragua 1998 (Hurricane Mitch); Belize 2000 (Hurricane Keith); and El Salvador 1986 and 2001 (earthquakes).
He subsequently organized field research teams to the Chile and Haiti earthquakes of 2010. Asked to select three single or co-authored article publications that he enjoyed writing the most, Professor Olson chose (1) “Toward a Politics of Disaster: Losses, Values, Agendas, and Blame,” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters (2000); (2)“From Disaster Event to Political Crisis: A ‘5C+A’ Framework for Analysis,” International Studies Perspectives (2010); and (3) “From Disaster Risk Reduction to Policy Studies: Bridging Research Communities,” Natural Hazards Review (2020).