Tricia Olsen, PhD, is professor and Stassen Chair in global policy at the Humphrey School. She engages with students, policymakers, industry leaders, and fellow academics to deepen our understanding as to when and why development opportunities and human rights protection occur in today’s globalized world. She has made important contributions to the study of the political economy of development in emerging economies (particularly Latin America), human rights, and business ethics.

Olsen's book, Seeking Justice: Access to Remedy for Corporate Human Rights Abuse (Cambridge, 2023), is based on her ongoing efforts to systematically collect data on corporate human rights violations, the Corporations and Human Rights Database.  In addition to her co-authored book, Transitional Justice in Balance: Comparing Processes, Weighing Efficacy (also translated to Spanish), other published work can be found in numerous outlets, including World Development, Organization Studies, Business Ethics Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Peace Research, and the International Journal of Transitional Justice.

Olsen’s work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, British Academy, Fulbright-Hays, USAID, United States Institute of Peace, among others. 

Democracy; human rights; international development; sustainable development; Latin America; private enterprise