Jason Olson Email & Phone Number

Global

Global

Founder and Managing Director of Konung International, which is a multifaceted governance and institutional development practice. KI was acquired by FHI 360 in 2020. KI works with donors and multilateral institutions to deliver donor funded development programmes globally. In addition to my role as MD, I am also responsible for technical delivery of all governance and political economy programming and overseeing business development for KI. I regularly provide direct technical inputs on KI projects, utilising my experience in public sector reform including centre of government, political economy, legislatures and parliaments, civil society, legal reform, legislative drafting, public financial management, civil service reform, rule of law, security sector reform and public sector, NGO and CSO capacity building.

Global

West Hollywood, California

Lead on strategic business development for Piedmont Media which has developed a consumer research metric to gauge the strength of people's personal connection to a given concept- essentially telling you from the initial concept stage: "Is this something people have an interest in?" Piedmont's Consumer Engagement score can be used in several different ways to aid in making smarter investment and marketing decisions- film and television concept testing, accurate valuation of actor values, tracking a film’s strength in the marketplace from an earlier point than is otherwise available, and testing out the strength of concepts in the home entertainment market.

London, United Kingdom

Overseeing business development for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Central Asia in the area of government reform. This includes a focus on public financial management, economic, public administration and civil service reform. I am primarily responsible for building relations with key donors such as USAID and the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and for developing links directly with countries for government reform projects.

London, United Kingdom

Currently co-head of the our government reform practice group, which is the largest division of the firm. This division has projects operating throughout Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Pacific. Primary responsibilities include business development, project performance, staffing and management. Through business development and project performance oversight, I am in charge of government relations at both senior political levels and working levels. Also Country Director for Afghanistan, which is ASI's largest single market with responsibilities including oversight of business development and six large donor funded governance reform projects.

Los Angeles, California

Attorney practicing in government affairs, regulatory, ethics, litigation, election law, environmental law, land use, urban planning and real estate development. Successfully secured government entitlements for large real estate developments and power plants. In California securing such entitlements requires familiarity with a complex regulatory environment including environmental, labour, and planning regulations. Extensive experience in lobbying federal, state and local governments on behalf of clients and providing counsel on elections and government ethics matters. Also worked closely with NGOs and civil society in developing political consensus on many controversial projects. Performed management duties on the firm’s Associates Committee with responsibility over all associate attorney issues.

Cape Town, South Africa

Directed Parliament’s Budget Reform Task Team’s efforts to initiate an overhaul of South Africa’s legislative budget process. Worked with leaders of the governing party to establish the institutions and mechanisms enabling Parliament to participate, amend, and oversee the national budget. Also coordinated Parliament’s processing of the budget and established a training program for Members of Parliament on oversight of government expenditures and on understanding economics from a governance perspective. Prior to 2000, I worked for the South African Parliament June to August 1997 and conducted research on their behalf in South Africa and internationally from October 1999 to June 2000.

Jd, Law

Course work in administrative, contract, U.S. constitutional, copyright, criminal, local government, and trademark law. Third year paper.

Mpp, Public Policy

Course work in applied economics, statistics, strategic management, economics of regulation and antitrust, public budgeting, real-estate.

Ba, Political Science & Public Policy

Graduated with High Academic Honours, Phi Beta Kappa and the University of California Alumni Scholar Prize. Dean’s Academic List for all.