Darcy Olsen

Darcy Olsen is the founder and president of Generation Justice, a new organization providing reform blueprints and public interest litigation services to extend the full umbrella of constitutional rights to children. “Kids could have no better guardian angel,” wrote National Review.

Olsen served as CEO of the Goldwater Institute for fifteen years. When she took the organization’s reins, it was running in the red. She restructured the enterprise, added litigation to its arsenal, and expanded operations from one state into fifty, creating a national powerhouse.

During her tenure, columnist George Will observed, “The Goldwater Institute is simply in the liberty business, and there’s no institution in the country that performs that business better.”

In 2015, Olsen published “The Right to Try: How the Federal Government Prevents Americans from Getting the Lifesaving Treatments They Need,” a book that helped lead 38 states to adopt the law, saving countless lives.

“The Right to Try” begins with the story of Ted Harada, a father of three who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at age 38. Harada was denied a lifesaving surgery by the FDA. This surgery was also unavailable to the nearly 24,000 people with ALS who have died since the clinical trials began. Through her book, Olsen works to bring the inefficiencies of the FDA into the spotlight, arguing that many patients can’t get access to promising treatments because of government obstacles.

For her unique contributions to freedom, Olsen received the honorable Bradley Prize in 2014. She speaks and writes on a range of issues, including foster care and adoption and how to drive change through initiatives like the Right to Try.

Olsen earned a bachelor’s degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a master’s degree in International Education from New York University.

In 2010, Olsen felt inspired to foster and is now the adoptive mother of three. She is rarely seen without a foster baby in her arms, and despite declaring “this is my last baby!” her sister keeps winning the bet that the Olsen family has room for one more.