Pete Olson was elected to six terms in Congress. While in Congress, he served on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, rising to the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power. He formed the House Refinery Caucus, the House Artificial Intelligence Caucus, and the House Corrosion Caucus. He was the proud lead sponsor of the law which gave the Doolittle Raiders the Congressional Gold Medal on May 23, 2014.
Olsen was born at Madigan Army Hospital, Fort Lewis, Washington, on December 9, 1962. In 1972, Pete’s family moved to Clear Lake, Texas. He attended Ed White Elementary, Seabrook Intermediate, and played basketball for Coach Bill Krueger at Clear Lake High. He graduated from Rice University in 1985 and received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1988.
Always dreaming to go into space, Pete joined the Navy the same day he finished the Texas bar exam. Olson served in the Navy from 1989 to 1998 flying the P-3C Orion submarine hunter. Upon leaving active duty, he joined Senator Phil Gramm’s Staff, eventually becoming Deputy Chief of Staff. Upon Senator Gramm’s retirement in 2002, Olson served as the first Chief of Staff for Senator John Cornyn. In 2007, Pete resigned his position and came back to Texas to run for his home seat, Texas’ 22nd Congressional District.
He and his wife, Nancy, have two adult children and live in Sugar Land, Texas. His favorite vintage World War II aircraft are the P-51D Mustang (land based), the F6F Hellcat (carrier based), and the B-25 Mitchell (land and sea based).