Jane T. Olson

Jane Olson chaired the International Board of Human Rights Watch from 2004 to 2010, having founded the California Committee South in 1989 and served on the HRW Board for 16 years. She was founding board chair of Landmine Survivors Network and served as chair for 13 years, through its transition to Survivor Corps. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she is also a former board member of The Salzburg Seminar on International Studies. She was co-chair of the Women's Refugee Commission in the 1990s. Olson has received numerous awards, including the inaugural 2005 Eleanor Roosevelt Award from Feminist Majority; the Silver Achievement Award from the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles; the Community Achievement Award from Public Counsel, and The Alison Des Forges Award in 2010 from Human Rights Watch.