Her father was a Democratic congressman for Utah. Her grandfather was a Democratic senator from the state, too.
Jody Olsen followed that family tradition into public service — as a Republican serving in a staunchly conservative administration.
President Donald Trump recently appointed the Salt Lake City native and daughter of the late U.S. Rep. David King as the director of the Peace Corps. She is tasked with overseeing one of the largest volunteer organizations in the country. And she’s doing it at a challenging time for the agency, which faces budget constraints and proposed cuts despite bipartisan support.
“I’m grateful to President Trump for his trust and confidence,” she said.
The Senate unanimously confirmed Olsen last month and she was sworn in two weeks ago in front of a portrait of John F. Kennedy, who established the Peace Corps in 1961. JFK was a Democrat and the president when Olsen was in college and her dad in Congress. Her father’s last year in office was her first year volunteering with the organization.
“I had a long conversation with my father. I said, ‘The family history is more on the Democratic side, and yet I feel very committed,’” Olsen said, recounting a chat they had when she was in her 20s. “He said, ‘I totally understand.’ And so it was a very easy and a very natural transition.
“I formally changed parties and have been a good Republican ever since.”
Olsen, now 75, has served in top roles with the Peace Corps during every GOP presidency since the 1980s: She was a regional director under Ronald Reagan, a chief of staff under George H.W. Bush and a deputy director under George W. Bush.
‘It shaped me’
Olsen was sitting on a couch in her sorority house at the University of Utah eating chocolate cake when she first heard about the Peace Corps. A volunteer was talking about a trip he’d taken, how it changed his life and gave him a new outlook.
She put down her fork.
Her first thought: “What’s a guy doing at a sorority?”
Ten minutes later: “I am going to do that.”
And she did. Olsen left for Tunisia, a small country in northern Africa, in 1966 after graduating in sociology.
Growing up in a Mormon household, she had watched as her brothers went on missions for the Utah-based faith. They traveled to foreign countries, learned new languages, came back and shared their experiences.
Her two-year service with the Peace Corps didn’t feel much different.
“There’s a lot of parallels,” she said. “Utah has that wonderful gift of being very intimate and community-oriented and very global and international at the same time. It shaped me.”
The mission of the volunteer agency is to promote “peace and friendship” abroad. That hasn’t changed since it was founded, Olsen said, but the world has.
The Peace Corps is currently in 64 countries, which saw nearly 7,400 volunteers last year. Security threats and violence have forced the group out of some areas, including much of West Africa and parts of the Middle East.
Additionally, the Trump administration has proposed sharp cuts — the largest in the past 40 years — to the diplomacy organization’s budget. If approved by Congress, the Peace Corps would have 15 percent less funding.
And though the agency’s volunteers are supposed to be nonpartisan, what the president has posted on Twitter in the past year has impacted relations. Americans in the program are asked about his proposed travel ban. They’re scrutinized over his comments on Islam. They’re pressed on his “s---hole countries” remark, when he criticized immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African nations.
Olsen sees it all as “an opportunity and, to some extent, a challenge.”
As director, she wants to focus on the Peace Corps’ education and development work. She intends to expand programs for language learning and health care. And she plans to embrace new communication tools — FaceTime and social media — to strengthen the connection between countries.
‘A unique understanding’
Olsen was born in Washington, D.C., two blocks from where the Peace Corps office is today. Her family moved to Utah six months later when her father finished law school.
“My roots are Utah,” she said, “and I care about that very much.”
Though she lives in Maryland now, the 75-year-old stays connected to the state. Her mother is here. She was alumni of the year here. She loves flying over the mountains here. And she compares her age to the senior senator here — suggesting that she was shy about it until she found out how old Sen. Orrin Hatch is (he’s 84).
“I must say that I’m totally proud of that,” she said with a laugh.
Hatch introduced Olsen during her confirmation hearing for deputy director in 2001. And he supported her again last month.
“As a Utahn,” the Republican senator said, “she has a unique understanding of the value of service in the world, and experience and expertise second to none.”
