About the event:

James Olson, former CIA Chief of Counterintelligence, will discuss how our country’s security has been undermined by treachery from within. He will do so in the context of four Americans he knew and worked with who passed secrets to the Russians in return for money, ego, or sex.

This topic will be relevant to anyone concerned about the insider threat and the need to protect sensitive information. There will be time at the end for questions from the audience on any subject related to national security.

About the speaker: 

Professor James Olson is the former Chief of Counterintelligence at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. He served for over thirty years in the Directorate of Operations of the Central Intelligence Agency, mostly overseas in clandestine operations. Professor Olson has been awarded the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, the Donovan Award, and several Distinguished Service Citations.

Currently, he is Professor of the Practice Emeritus at The Bush School at Texas A&M University, where he teaches courses on intelligence and counterintelligence. Professor Olson is the recipient of awards from the Bush School and the Association of Former Students for excellence in teaching.

He is the author of Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying and To Catch a Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence. Professor Olson received his law degree from the University of Iowa. Prior to his career in the CIA, he served in the US Navy, where he attained the rank of lieutenant commander.

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