Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Headlines ABA Law & National Security Event

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14, 2012 — Matthew G. Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will discuss the evolving terrorist threat and the NCTC mission when the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security meets May 16 from 8 – 9 a.m. at the University Club in Washington, D.C.

According to the NCTC, the center has two core missions: to serve as the primary organization in the U.S. government for analysis and integration of all terrorism intelligence, and to conduct strategic planning for counterterrorism activities. In his role, Olsen reports to the director of national intelligence and to the president to fulfill NCTC’s objectives.

Olsen has an extensive background in national security and counterterrorism. Before he was confirmed as director by the U.S. Senate in August 2011, Olsen served as the general counsel for the National Security Agency, where he was the chief legal officer and the principal legal adviser to the NSA director. He previously served in the Department of Justice as an associate deputy attorney general and was responsible for supervising and coordinating national security and criminal matters. He also was special counselor to the attorney general and executive director of the Guantanamo Review Task Force. In 2009 he managed the interagency process to implement the president’s executive order calling for a comprehensive review of the intelligence pertaining to detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

From 1994-2006, Olsen was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. From 2005-2006, he was the chief of the office’s National Security Section, where he supervised the investigation and prosecution of terrorists, spies, and those involved in export-violation matters. Olsen served as special counsel to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2004-2005.

WHO:
Matthew G. Olsen
Director, National Counterterrorism Center

WHAT:
“The Evolving Terrorist Threat and the NCTC Mission”
Sponsored by the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security

WHEN:
Wednesday, May 16
8 – 9 a.m.

WHERE:
The University Club
1135 16^th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036

For media credentialing, please contact Alexandra Buller at Alexandra.Buller@Americanbar.org. This event is free and open to members of the press.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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