Theodore B. Olson served as the 42nd United States Solicitor General from 2001 to 2004. Previously he was an assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel in the Reagan Administration and a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. He has argued many cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including issues of copyright, telecommunications, federal securities regulation, antitrust, the environment, school vouchers, criminal law, immigration, due process, voting rights, equal protection, the separation of powers, and the constitutionality of campaign finance reform law.

He successfully represented George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the Supreme Court Bush v. Gore cases after the 2000 presidential election. He has written and lectured extensively on appellate advocacy, oral advocacy in the courtroom, and constitutional law.