Lyndon L. Olson, Jr.

The Honorable Lyndon L. Olson, Jr., former United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden.

President of the National Group Corporation and as CEO of its National Group Insurance Companies. In addition, Ambassador Olson served as Chairman and a Member of the Texas State Board of Insurance (1979-1987) and served as President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners from 1982-1983.  Ambassador Olson is a former Commissioner and Vice Chairman of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy having been appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate.

A native of Waco, Texas, and former member of the Texas House of Representatives (1973-1979), Mr. Olson has demonstrated a long commitment to a host of civic, political, cultural and philanthropic organizations throughout the state of Texas and the nation.

An active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Council of American Ambassadors, Ambassador Olson is a former Chairman and present member of The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Board of Trustees for The American-Scandinavian Foundation, The Jerusalem Foundation and The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, all in New York. Additionally, he is a former member of the International Board of Advisors for the Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a former member of the Yale Music School Board of Advisors.

Currently, Ambassador Olson serves as Vice Chairman of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation in Austin, Texas, and he is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas in Austin. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation and he is a member of the Board of Advisors to Raise Your Hand Texas. An active member and Secretary of the Philosophical Society of Texas, Mr. Olson is a past President of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, and a past President of the Texas Lyceum. He is a former member of the Executive Committees of the Texas Association of Businesses and Chambers of Commerce, the Houston Grand Opera, the Lyric Opera and the Symphony of Austin, and the Symphony and the Art Center of Waco. Both the Texas Municipal League and the Texas Medical Association have conferred on Mr. Olson their Distinguished Public Official Awards.

Additionally, Ambassador Olson serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas, as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Baylor Scott & White Healthcare System, Chairman of the Board of the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, and as an Emeritus Trustee of the Baylor College of Medicine. Ambassador Olson is also a former member of the Advisory Committee for MD Anderson Cancer Center and former Chairman of the Texas Mental Health Association.

A graduate of Baylor University, Ambassador Olson is a past President of the Baylor Alumni Association, former member of the Board of Visitors for the Hankamer School of Business and the School of Music. Additionally, Mr. Olson is former Chairman of the Masonic Grand Lodge Library and Museum in Waco, and he is a 33rd degree Grand Cross Scottish Rite Mason. A cattle rancher and banker, he resides in Waco, Texas with his wife, Kay Woodward Olson.