Richard C. Olson, Secretary

Mr. Olson has been a journalist, congressional aide and business executive. Upon receiving a bachelor of arts degree with distinction from the University of Arizona in 1950 he became a reporter and editor for the Tucson Daily Citizen. In 1955 he opened a public relations firm in Tucson and, collaterally, managed the congressional district office of Rep. Stewart L. Udall of Arizona. In 1961 he joined the staff of Rep. Morris K. Udall of Arizona as Legislative (later Executive) Assistant. In 1971 he was named editor of the Living Wilderness and Director of Information of the Wilderness Society. In 1976 he returned to the House of Representives as Special Assistant to Majority leader Jim Wright of Texas, where he served as chief of staff for the House in a seven-month conference to produce the Energy Security Act of 1980. In 1982 he was named Director of Corporate Government Relations for DynCorp, a diversified technical services company, and later served as Vice President for Public Affairs. Mr. Olson served for more than 20 years on the board of the Association to Unite the Democracies, where he sponsored the Initiative for World Security, which then became the Next Century Initiative, predecessor to CCD. He was one of the founders of CCD.