Theodore B. Olson '62, who developed his debating skills as a college student at University of the Pacific before launching an extraordinary legal career spanning seven decades that included serving as U.S. solicitor general and arguing 65 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Wednesday, his law firm announced. He was 84.

The 1962 graduate was a stalwart on the school’s nationally renowned speech and debate team.

“Pacific fostered an environment that placed an emphasis on individual liberties and opportunities,” Olson said in 2020 interview with President Christopher Callahan as part of the Pacific Alumni Association’s Leading Voices speaker series. “The nature of having a small campus provided me with the freedom to get involved and create those close relationships with faculty that pushed me to do more.”

Olson received Pacific’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999 in recognition of his exceptional contributions to public service.

“Ted Olson was one of the most influential attorneys of our time, and one of our greatest Pacificans,” said Callahan, who visited with Olson in his Washington law firm last year. “He always talked with great affection about his Pacific years, and how the debate team gave him the confidence to pursue his legal career.”

Olson served as solicitor general from 2001–04 under President George W. Bush.

Perhaps Olson’s most prominent moments came in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election, where Bush and Al Gore were locked in a race where seemingly every Florida vote mattered as the case went before the U.S. Supreme Court, with Bush ultimately winning.

“Bush vs. Gore in many ways was a watershed moment in U.S. electoral politics,” said Associate Professor of Political Science Keith Smith. “Not only did the court’s opinion in the case end the 2000 presidential election, handing President George W. Bush the Electoral College majority, but it ushered in the modern era of electoral litigation.”

Despite his staunch conservative leanings, Olson would take on cases with liberal underpinnings. He surprised many by arguing on behalf of same-sex marriage in California and against the Trump Administration’s rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

In the 2013 same-sex marriage case, a federal judge ruled the state’s ban violated the U.S. Constitution, and the U.S. Supreme Court let that decision stand.

“This is the most important thing I’ve ever done, as an attorney or a person,” Olson later said in a documentary.

While at Pacific, Olson served as editor of the student newspaper The Pacifican, performed in theater, hosted his own radio show and participated in student government and Greek life. He said his debate experience was formative for him, crediting former Pacific Professor Paul Winters, who directed the team.

Olson studied communications and history at Pacific and stressed the importance of a liberal arts education with an emphasis on history and literature.

Olson encouraged current Pacific students to take advantage of their time in school and get involved as much as possible.

“Take all of the opportunities you can to experience college life and learn from your peers,” advised Olson. “Pacific is a personal experience that lasts a lifetime.”

Olson also suffered heartbreak. His wife Barbara Olson, an attorney and prominent television commentator, died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 which was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon. He later remarried to Lady Booth Olson in 2006.

Services have not been announced.

Olson has generously supported Pacific students through the Paul Winters Forensics Tournament Endowment, which honors his former debate coach. The endowment helps cover the cost of travel to debate tournaments. Contact Scott Biedermann ’05, ’20, vice president of development and alumni relations, at 209.946.2166 or sbiedermann@051857.com to learn more about making gifts to the team in Olson’s honor.