On January 20, 2009, Matthew G. Olsen was designated as the Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security responsible for supervision of the National Security Division.  Mr. Olsen also retains his title of Deputy Assistant Attorney General, a position he has held since the division commenced operations in September 2006.  In this capacity, he manages the Department's intelligence operations and oversight functions, and supervises intelligence activities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the authority of the Attorney General. 

From 1994 to 2006, Mr. Olsen was a prosecutor in the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.  From 2005 to 2006, he was the chief of the office's National Security Section, where he supervised the investigation and prosecution of international and domestic terrorism, espionage, and export violation matters and managed a unit of senior attorneys dedicated to national security prosecutions.  As an Assistant United States Attorney, Mr. Olsen successfully prosecuted a violent drug trafficking organization in the longest criminal trial ever conducted in the District of Columbia.   

Mr. Olsen served as Special Counsel to the FBI Director from 2004 to 2005.  He was responsible for policy matters relating primarily to the FBI's national security mission and represented the FBI in the interagency policy making process, focusing on counterterrorism matters.  Mr. Olsen is an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches a course on federal white collar crime.    

Mr. Olsen graduated from the University of Virginia and Harvard Law School.