John Olson Departing OSTP/NASA to Join SNC
Former NASA Manager John Olson, currently on assignment at the Office of Science and Technology Policy as Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics, will be joining SNC starting 1 July. Olson’s last day at OSTP will be tomorrow, 7 June. Olson’s last day at NASA will be on 1 July. After that Olson will be taking on an executive leadership role in the Space Systems Group at Sierra Nevada Corporation in Louisville, Colorado and Arlington, Virginia.
This is a tremendous loss to the nation and a tremendous gain for SNC corp. John is one of the brightest minds in the nation in space and his presence will be sorely missed.
A real loss for NASA and the nation but maybe he has seen the light and understands that NASA human space is being put out to pasture and its future is dim under the current management and Administration.
Or they made him an offer he couldn’t refuse…
A new sign of the times? For several years it seemed that senior people were leaving NASA for university posts. These days it seems that many of them are leaving to go work for the aerospace companies (not the first time we’ve seen this).
I notice that Mr. Olsen’s reasons are not given in the brief article. This, too, seems to be a trend — no explanation, just good-bye.
What I have to wonder is, given the NASA budgetary situation, will all of those leaving be replaced, or will there be reorganizations in an atempt to eliminate as many of the large pay checks as possible?
You don’t even know John (I do). Why do people in government ( a foreign one in your case) have to tell YOU everything about their personal decisions and their careers? When you don’t get all the details you just start imagining things. He does not owe you an explanation any more than you owe me one when you change jobs.
No criticism was intended. I agree with you completely Keith. It’s none of my business why he makes his career decisions. I was just noticing a trend. It used to be that when a senior person left NASA the press release typically said where he/she was going next and why they decided to make the change. More recently less information is given. It’s not a matter of right or wrong, just different.
1. Steve wasn’t negative toward Mr. Olson. People realize it’s often just best (and most professional) to leave out details. That doesn’t mean the details are “bad”.
2. We imagine lots of things in the comments here.
3. You played the “foreign” card, but I made Steve an honorary US citizen a while back 🙂
4. It’s important that you view this, a few times today – http://www.youtube.com/watc…
John is a good man and is totally dedicated to space exploration and the next generation of space explorers. He has served his country well at NASA, in the military (here and abroad), and at the White House. SNC has managed to snag a very imaginative person and they will soon see just how creative and hard working he is.