Dates

• Existence: 1947

Biography

Kristine Olson was born in New York City in 1947. She grew up in Queens, New York, and her family moved to Manhasset when she was 13 years old. As a teenager, she was active in the civil rights movement, participating in several marches. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1969, and from Yale Law School in 1972. While at Yale, she lived in the Cosey Beach Commune until her marriage with Jeff Rogers in 1971. They later had two children. She was a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Robert Zampano in Connecticut for a year. Then, in 1973, she and Rogers moved to Oregon, where she clerked for U.S. District Court Judge James Burns until 1974. From 1974 to 1984, she was an assistant U.S. attorney under Sid Lezak. She then taught law at Lewis and Clark College until 1994, when she was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. That same year, she and Jeff Rogers divorced. Sid Lezak introduced her to Les Swanson, and she and Swanson married in 1996. In 2001, she resigned early in the George W. Bush administration. She then served as legal counsel for Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer until her retirement in 2003. In her retirement, she was active in numerous civic organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Trust for Public Land, and the Scandinavian Heritage Foundation. She also authored a biography of Grand Ronde Tribal Council member Kathryn Jones Harrison, entitled “Standing Tall.”

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