Academic interests
- Organisational decision-making
- New institutionalism
- Democracy, power and the Scandinavian model
- The changing political organisation of Europe
Background
It was not written in the stars that I would have an academic career. I was born (1939) and grew up in Tromsø, beyond the Polar Circle in Norway, in a working class family without academic traditions and I worked as a journalist for five years before I began political science studies at the University of Oslo (1963). The further story involves many good helpers, and in particular three; four universities; and four research themes.
The good helpers
When I graduated from the University of Oslo (1967), professor Knut D. Jacobsen convinced me to change from journalism to academia. For that I am thankful. I also followed him (1969) to the University of Bergen where public administration was established as a separate discipline, combining political theory and organization theory. I was appointed professor in Public Administration and Organization Theory in 1973. In 1993 I returned to Oslo as Director of ARENA (Advanced Research on the Europeanization of the Nation-State) a new, basic research center, where I am now (2010) Professor Emeritus.
The most important event in my academic life, however, was visiting the University of California, Irvine (1968-69). Irvine was then a new university with an innovative school of social science led by Dean James G. March. Jim is a great human being and I am proud of having had him as a friend, colleague and co-author for more than 40 years. When he moved to Stanford University (1970), Stanford became my second academic home, with frequent visits, including a fellowship at The Center of Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (1991-92).
Nevertheless, among my invaluable helpers, the most important has been Helene - my best friend since we were 16 and my spouse since we were 20. She is and has been the precondition for anything of value I may have done.
Download Johan P. Olsen's CV (updated January 2019)
Honors
Having had the opportunity to work on these themes over the years has been a great reward in itself. In addition I have received honors and awards, such as the John Gauss Award, the Aaron Wildavsky Enduring Contribution Award and the Herbert A. Simon Award from American colleagues, as well as several Norwegian and European honors and prizes. These include honorary doctorates in four countries, membership in three Academies, and being appointed Commander of the Royal Norwegian St. Olav’s Order by the King of Norway. A special pleasure was to get a Festschrift edited by my long-term colleagues Morten Egeberg and Per Lægreid: ‘Organizing Political Institutions’ (1999) with contributions from many outstanding Norwegian and international colleagues - a dear reminder that research can be a collective endeavor of great importance and pleasure.