Christopher N Olsen

Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Christopher Olsen advises clients on all aspects of privacy and cybersecurity matters and represents companies under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general. He has an established track record of success in resolving investigations without enforcement action and clients regularly seek his guidance when facing high-stakes regulatory scrutiny.

Chris is a former deputy director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where he directed the international work of the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection and acted as the agency’s co-lead negotiator in discussions with the European Commission regarding improvements to and renewal of the US–EU Safe Harbor Framework.

Prior to joining the bureau director’s office, Chris was the assistant director of the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection at the FTC. In this role, he managed a number of significant privacy and security enforcement actions, as well as several of the most important privacy initiatives in recent FTC history, including a seminal 2012 FTC report on consumer privacy that formulated important recommendations for businesses.