Background

Chris Olson was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and grew up in a family that valued honesty, responsibility, and hard work. He graduated from West Charlotte High School in 1986 and UNC-Chapel Hill in 1990. After college, Chris attended Campbell Law School, finishing with highest honors and serving as an editor for The Campbell Law Review. He lives in Raleigh with his wife of 20 years and their two children.

Legal Career

Chris graduated magna cum laude from Campbell Law School in 1994. During law school, he clerked with the Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for Judge Franklin T. Dupree, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina. During a 25-year legal career, Chris has worked with both large and small law firms and as a solo practitioner. He has represented individuals, businesses, insurers, municipalities, and governmental actors such as law enforcement officers and other public servants.

Chris has been regularly recognized as a North Carolina Super Lawyer and has long held an AV Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating, representing the highest level of professional excellence in legal knowledge, communication skills, and ethical standards. He has served as a pro bono lawyer with the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic on two successful exoneration efforts and volunteers his time with the New England Innocence Project.

Interests

In his free time, Chris enjoys traveling with his family, gardening, and reading. He also tackles long-distance hikes that require months of training, discipline, and resolve. Chris has summited Mt. Whitney (the highest peak in the continental US) twice, as well as Yosemite’s Half Dome via the Cables Route, and has completed day-hikes of the Black Mountain Crest Trail (10 peaks greater than 6,000 feet in elevation), and the grueling 24-mile Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim traverse.