Maria Leonard Olsen

MARIA LEONARD OLSEN is a biracial woman whose parents were forbidden by law to marry in the early 1960s. She is an author, attorney, recovery mentor, writing and empowerment retreat leader, and co-host of D.C.’s Inside Out radio show. Olsen graduated from Boston College and the University of Virginia School of Law, and served in the Clinton Administration’s Justice Department. She is also on numerous charitable boards, and has fostered newborn babies awaiting adoption. Olsen has spoken at the National March to End Rape Culture, L.A.’s Mixed Remixed Festival, The Japanese American National Museum’s Family Day, the Washington Independent Review of Books, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Asian American Month Celebration and as a corporate motivational speaker. Her talk has been featured on C-Span’s Book TV. Her latest book, 50 After 50–Reframing the Next Chapter of Your Life, was selected for the National Book Fair. @fiftyafter50