Steven J. Olson
Partner
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Steve Olson serves as the firmwide Co-Chair of the White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations Practice.
As a former federal fraud prosecutor at the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, Steve regularly represents companies, boards of directors and executives in criminal and civil matters against government enforcement agencies. He also advises companies and independent directors in connection with complex and sensitive internal investigations. Steve has extensive jury trial experience both at the government and in private practice.
Steve rejoined O’Melveny in 2013 after serving as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the US Commerce Secretary. Steve also served as Executive Director of SelectUSA, the federal initiative to create jobs by attracting increased investment in the United States from international businesses. Steve built the SelectUSA program and under his leadership, it helped channel more than US$25 billion in new foreign direct investment and handled a pipeline of over 800 in-bound investment matters from businesses all over the world, helping to navigate the US regulatory environment.
Steve has been recognized by Chambers USA and Legal 500 as a leading lawyer in the area of White-Collar Criminal Defense. The 2019 edition of Chambers USA quotes a client who describes Steve as "a top-flight investigations and trial attorney." Another source notes that "He has extraordinary common sense and is immensely liked by everyone. He's very connected, very results-oriented, and delivers with extraordinary speed." Previous editions of Chambers have quoted clients describing Steve as “smart” and “talented” and note that “he really has a very, very good touch in terms of negotiations” and “can make on-the-spot calls which inevitably turn out to be right and he has a sixth sense when it comes to governmental agencies.” Steve has also repeatedly been recognized as among the “Most Influential People in Los Angeles” by The Los Angeles Business Journal.
Steve has served as O’Melveny’s firmwide Talent Development Partner, firmwide Hiring Partner, and a member of the Partner Admissions Committee.
Honors & Awards
- Named a “Local Litigation Star” for White-Collar Crime by Benchmark Litigation (2020)
- Recognized by Chambers USA for White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (2017-2020)
- Recognized by the Legal 500 US for White-Collar Criminal Defense (2016-2020)
- Named “One of the Most Influential People in Los Angeles” by the Los Angeles Business Journal
- Named a “Super Lawyer” in surveys conducted by Law & Politics Media Inc. and published in Los Angeles Magazine
Admissions
Bar Admissions
- California
Education
- University of Michigan, J.D., 1995: Contributing Editor, Michigan Journal of International Law
- Stanford University, B.A., 1990: with honors
Professional Activities
Clerkships
- Honorable Wm. Matthew Byrne, Jr., US District Court, Central District of California
Chair
- World Trade Center Los Angeles
Board Member
- Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC)
- Rose Bowl Legacy
- Lincoln Club
Trustee
- Occidental College
- Representing the Regents of the University of California and a Special Committee appointed by the Chancellor of UCLA to review and report on allegations of misconduct in the clinical health setting
- Representing the Audit Committee of Mattel, Inc. in investigation of whistleblower allegations concerning accounting, financial reporting and auditor independence issues
- Representing the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California in multiple high profile investigations and corporate governance issues
- Represented the Board of CenturyLink in conducting large-scale internal investigation of consumer sales and billing practices following whistleblower suit and regulatory, consumer and shareholder litigation
- Defending one of the largest global automakers in federal criminal grand jury and NHTSA investigations
- Defending Fortune 50 global energy company in environmental matters before various federal and state agencies following an incident concerning its downstream activities in California
- Defending Wall Street bank in FINRA arbitration
- Defended international real estate investment firm in SEC investigation concerning investor disclosures
- Led large-scale internal investigation on behalf of independent directors of NYSE-listed auto parts retail company regarding allegations of accounting fraud. Represented directors in subsequent SEC and DOJ prosecutions
- Representing BYD Motors, global Chinese electric vehicle and battery company, on a range of regulatory, litigation and business operations matters in US before various local, state and federal government agencies
- Represented major Brazilian energy company and CEO regarding US corporate governance and compliance issues
- Defending JPMorgan Chase in unfair competition and Fair Housing Act cases brought by Los Angeles City Attorney
- Defended leading Los Angeles-based private equity firm in SEC investigation regarding alleged fraudulent representations to investors
- Defended Bumble Bee Foods in criminal antitrust investigation and prosecution
- Advised China Mobile International, the US subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned telecommunications company, with regulatory, licensing and related national security issues
- Defending employees of Wall Street bank in SEC and NY Federal Reserve FCPA investigation of Asia hiring practices
- Defending ESSA, a Mexican State-owned enterprise and the world's largest producer of sea salt, in multi-billion dollar lawsuits in US Federal Court
- Represented leading California semi-conductor company in multiple civil misappropriation of trade secret cases against competitors and former employees, and in defending against a federal criminal grand jury investigation
- Represented international medical device company in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prosecution concerning corruption allegations at state-owned hospitals in China
- Represented California public technology company in corruption allegations stemming from sales operations in China
- Defended executive of Orange County medical device company in federal grand jury investigation concerning alleged faulty product
- Defended leading California bank in government investigations concerning their mortgage lending practices
- Defended aircraft services company in federal criminal and state civil environmental prosecutions
- Defended CEO of Southern California financial services company in SEC investigation for insider trading
- Defended CEO of Los Angeles asset management company in SEC prosecution regarding allegations of fraudulent representations to investors
- Defended Fortune 50 energy company in federal criminal grand jury investigation regarding environmental and obstruction of justice allegations concerning off-shore oil production operations