Theodore Olson, 1940 - 2024

Theodore B. Olson, a pre-eminent conservative legal force who over nearly 60 years counseled two presidents, argued 65 cases at the U.S. Supreme Court and founded Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP's appellate and constitutional law practice group, died of a stroke Wednesday at 84 at a hospital in Falls Church, Virginia.

He is survived by his fourth wife, Lady Booth Olson, who confirmed the cause of death, plus children Kenneth Olson and Christine Olson, three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, his brother and three sisters. Plans for a memorial service are pending.

"Ted has been the heart and soul of Gibson Dunn for six decades and made us who we are today," said colleague Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., a Los Angeles partner in the firm. "He was not just an incomparable lawyer, mentor, role model, and friend, but he has made immeasurable contributions to the rule of law, our Constitution, and our country. We will miss him with all our hearts."

Olson prevailed in three-quarters of his high court cases, including Bush v. Gore in 2000 and Citizens United v. FEC in 2010. Time called him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. A Federalist Society conservative, he joined liberals in a political twist that startled many to block California's gay marriage ban in Hollingsworth v. Perry in 2013.

In 2020 he successfully challenged President Donald Trump's effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program known as DACA, which prevents children brought illegally into the country from being deported when they become adults.

Even though his third wife, Barbara Olson, perished on Sept. 11, 2001, aboard American Airlines Flight 77 as it crashed into the Pentagon after being hijacked by five Saudi Arabian terrorists, Olson in August 2024 wrote in The Washington Post that he backed plea deals that spared from death three of those responsible, "though this was not the justice I had originally hoped for." He said he wanted "to begin to close this painful chapter in our nation's history."

At the same time, as Bush's solicitor general, he was instrumental in increasing executive powers to deal with terrorism and other security dangers in the aftermath of the attacks.

When he later opposed the Trump administration's effort to end DACA, he explained in a New York Times interview his view on the limits of presidential power. "Executive power is important, and we respect it. But it has to be done the right way. It has to be done in an orderly fashion so that citizens can understand what is being done and people whose lives have depended on a governmental policy aren't swept away arbitrarily and capriciously. And that's what's happened here."

When Olson invited liberal attorney David Boies to join him to successfully challenge California voters' Proposition 8 ban on ban on gay marriage in 2013, it was an alliance of past courtroom opponents. Olson explained to shocked observers on the left and right that his decision to fight the law rested in his small government conservatism. He saw the case as a legal landmark for civil liberties.

Boies, the chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, had represented Vice President Al Gore when the contested 2000 presidential election reached the high court. Olson won the case and the presidency for George W. Bush, who named him solicitor general.

On Wednesday Boies said, "Ted Olson was a giant in the law, and a giant in life. He left the law, our country, and each of us better than he found us. Few people are a hero to those that know them well. Ted was a hero to those who knew him best."

Teaming former foes to support gay marriage was a turning point that "proved to have a massive effect on the public's understanding of the constitutional soundness of arguments favoring marriage equality," said Lambda Legal's legal director, Jennifer C. Pizer.

Presiding Justice Therese M. Stewart of the 1st District Court of Appeal, Division 2 worked as San Francisco's chief deputy city attorney to promote gay marriage at the time Proposition 8 was passed. She admired Olson, she said Thursday.

"His willingness to represent the LGBTQ community in its quest for equality as well as to defend the DACA program show that his beliefs were genuine and not solely or primarily political," Stewart said. "He will remain a stellar role model and example for all lawyers."

Born in Chicago on Sept. 11,1940, Olson was raised in Mountain View and graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law. In the 1980s, he served as President Ronald Reagan's assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. He then resumed the Gibson Dunn career he'd begun in 1965. When the 2000 election plunged the nation into confusion over its contested outcome, he knew his way around the courts and the corridors of power.

Olson was on a flight from Washington, D.C. to a Gibson Dunn meeting in Los Angeles two days after the 2000 election when Bush campaign operatives reached him with pleas for help. "In those days airplanes had phones," Olson recalled in an oral history interview. He deplaned at LAX, immediately reboarded the same aircraft to return to D.C., gathered a team and headed for Florida, where the vote count controversy was centered.

When the case reached the high court, Olson's argument -- that equal protection principles precluded a recount due to Florida counties' disparate manual recount standards -- proved decisive, and the state's 25 electoral votes went to Bush.

Among Olson's many specialties was sports law, which is why he was called on to defend New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady when he was penalized for allegedly deflating balls during the 2015 American Football Conference championship game.

In June 2024, Olson was present when his firm christened the Theodore B. Olson Moot Courtroom in its downtown Los Angeles offices.

Gibson Dunn partner Theane D. Evangelis said, "Ted was an inspiration to us all. He changed the world through his brilliant advocacy and his commitment to equality and the rule of law. I'm so grateful to have had such a great friend and generous mentor. I will miss him dearly."

Gibson Dunn's appellate co-chair Julian W. Poon worked closely with Olson. Poon recalled Olson's rigorous approach to preparing for appellate arguments during "the intense, unrelenting moot courts we went through with him, which probed every possible weak spot in our position."

Olson put his success simply in the oral history interview. Regarding Bush v. Gore, he noted he was no election law expert, "but I did have experience, and I was a litigator."