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Jason Olsen

The Right Honourable Jason Alexander Olsen MNE EC (born 7 October 1982), is a prominent political figure and writer from the earliest days of New England independent existence. He was First Minister of New England from 6 March 2015 to 27 July 2015. Olsen was the second First Minister of New England, leading for just over 100 days in 2015. His term was also the second shortest serving ever for a First Minister, beating only the seventeen day term of Cassandra Yee.

• Early Life
• Militia Leader
• In Parliament
• First Minister
• Writer
• Later Years
• Ministry

Early Life

Jason Olsen was born in Armidale in 1982. Olsen was the eldest son of Mal and Frances Olsen, and was one of three children. Jason's father was a bank clerk in Armidale, whilst his mother was initially a housewife, but in later years worked as a civil servant. Olsen was educated at St Mary's Primary and later O'Connor Catholic High School in Armidale. A good student, he excelled at English, science and photography. Olsen was also a keen sportsman, and played rugby and cricket at the regional level.

In 2001, Olsen was admitted to the New England National University and there he studied a Bachelor of Arts with honours until 2004. In 2005, Olsen was employed by the university as a temp, and it is at the university he stayed for twenty-three years, filling various research, administration and teaching roles over the years. In 2005, he also completed a Dip. Ed. through the university, and from there he planned to take up casual teaching the following year.

In 2008, Olsen married Kim Clay, a fellow lecturer at the university in English. The couple had three children, of whom the youngest, Greg Olsen (who was born in 2009), sits as an MP in the current parliament for the SDLP. The children were Michael (born in 2010) and Jane (born in 2014). The Olsen's lived in on a rambling estate known as "Copenhagen", on Armidale's North Hill.

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Militia Leader

In 2008, Olsen, still a young man, became a supporter of the militia. The move appears to have prompted by harassment handed out on Olsen after he was openly critical of military operations in Armidale, and the impact this was having on the city as a whole. After the university was closed in 2007, Olsen was stood down on half pay until the war ended. Such ham-fisted treatment was commonly meted out to civil servants, and as a result many supported the rebellion. Olsen was one of these, and despite his age, he was happy to take up arms and fight. For most of 2008, Olsen served as a front line solider for the UMNE. His skills of oratory and writing also meant he was a valuable asset for the movement's propaganda arm. Olsen fought in the Battle of Walcha, and the subsequent campaigns to rid the gorge country of Australian troops. On three separate occasions, he was mentioned in dispatches, which at the time was the highest honour for a militiaman. In 2009, Olsen was promoted off the front and was placed in command of the propaganda effort.

In late 2009, Olsen was appointed to the leadership council of the militia as the Chief of Communications. His role as the chief designer of the militia's public relations campaign meant he was placed in close proximity to the highest levels of the leadership. In early 2010, Olsen was appointed to the personal staff of Michael Williams. His role was to assist in the negotiations for a peaceful end to the conflict, and in particular, Olsen was required to convince the members of the rebellion of the merits of negotiation and the outcomes they could achieve.

Williams appointed Olsen onto the negotiating committee for the Wellington round of talks that got underway in mid 2010. Williams himself played no part in the negotiations, and was happy to let Olsen and his team thrash out the details. The future King had a good working relationship with Olsen, they trusted each other implicitly, and understood what the outcomes of the treaty must entail for the rebellion to be judged a success. In 2011, Olsen was able to finally thrash out an agreement with the Australians, and so was one of the signatures of the treaty that was agreed to in September of that year. After putting his name to the agreement, Olsen spent the next month working tirelessly for it's ratification via a plebiscite.

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In Parliament

Olsen became a founding member of the United Party in 2011. After the success of the treaty ratification vote, Olsen was appointed to the Legislative Council of the Provisional Government. Olsen was made the Deputy Premier under Jonathon Braddock and held portfolios included Militia Decommissioning and External Relations with Australia. The council ran for ten months before elections for the first parliament were to be held in September 2012. For the General Election, Olsen was made deputy leader of the party under Braddock and campaigned tirelessly across the country on a platform of "finishing the job". When the final results were tallied, Olsen was easily elected as the first MP to the constituency of Uralla.

For the next four years, Olsen served as Deputy First Minister and held two other executive ministries. From October 2012 until November 2014, he served as Minister of External Affairs, and from November 2014 to March 2015 he was made Minister of Home Affairs.

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First Minister

In February 2015, Jon Braddock announced his retirement from the office of First Minister. Braddock's resignation split the United Party on the issue of his succession. Moderates and conservatives within the party supported Olsen, whilst the progressives supported Alex Fendalton. A fierce internal campaign ensued, with recriminations on both sides. It has become obvious that the vote was the beginning of the end of the first United government. In the event, Olsen won the day by just two votes. Fendalton resigned the next day and was quoted in the media as saying, "I have no desire to see an old boys club established in this nation". He on went on to form the SDP and was able reconcile himself with his old party when they merged in 2025 to form the SDLP.

Olsen would only serve as First Minister for 136 days. From the outset, he knew he would only have a few months to prove himself to the electorate and win their support in an election that was required by the 29th September. To many, Olsen came across as arrogant and aloof. His handling of the resignation of Fendalton won him few friends, and when compared against the tough work ethic of Jacob Meyer, it was obvious to many that the United Party was in for a tough fight. In May, the budget came down and it appeared to improve the public's view of the government. The economy was still flat, and there was much malcontent over the rate of change occurring the country. Many were upset and fearful that their lives would be ruined if the disengagement from Australia occurred too soon. With National campaigning on a “go slow” approach to disengagement, the government was forced to act. The budget allocated more money for displaced persons and reconstruction. This change led to improvement in voter approval. Taking advantage of this, Olsen called and election for the 14th July 2015.

The opposition easily won the poll, and the defeat was made worse when the results indicated that even Olsen had lost his seat. Humiliated, he conceded defeat and handed over power to the victorious Jacob Meyer the following Friday.

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Writer

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Later Years

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Ministry

The Olsen Ministry was the second cabinet ministry, and ran from the 6 March 2015 to 27 July 2015.

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First Ministers of New England
Braddock · Olsen · Meyer · Davidson · Corbett · Yee · Gates · Tudor · Howlett · Gordon · Jones

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