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In the Spotlight: Stephen Olsen ’02

Stephen Olsen, Esq. ’02, is a member of the Gawthrop Greenwood, PC, Trusts & Estates Department, practicing in the areas of estate, trust administration, estate planning taxation, and business transactions. He is also one of the few Pennsylvania attorneys in private practice with a wide breadth of experience supporting the legal needs of medical marijuana operators. The nontraditional student who studied economics at Lycoming shares how he got a jump start on his college education.

You came to Lycoming College as a high school senior under our dual enrollment program with local high schools. Talk us through your decision to start taking collegiate classes during your final year of secondary school. 

My path was a little more nontraditional. At the time, my high school wouldn’t accept college credits, so I elected to leave high school and enroll in college. I did eventually get a high school diploma after the district reconsidered the policy, but there was a year where I was enrolled in college and technically a high school dropout. It was a really easy decision to come to Lycoming for my last year of high school. After my junior year, I had taken all the academic track classes offered. Lycoming offered an alternative educational opportunity to continue taking interesting and rigorous classes and get a jump start on my college career. I was still close enough to enjoy my “senior” year with my friends, but also take amazing classes. It seemed too good to be true.

You were an economics major while at Lycoming College who went on to earn a Juris Doctorate and Master of Laws in Taxation from Villanova University. How did your degree from Lycoming prepare you for earning your advanced degrees?

It is difficult to select just one or two ways in which Lycoming prepared me for my graduate studies. Entering college, I was unsure what I hoped to do professionally. I really enjoyed being able to take great classes across multiple disciplines, and having those classes push me as a critical thinker and really hone my writing ability. I think the most important aspect of the education was the amazing professors I had, many of whom still teach at the College, including Dr. Sprunger and my advisor, Dr. Madresehee. They were truly invested in my development as a student and constantly challenged me to push myself academically.

Following your graduation from Villanova, you joined Gawthrop Greenwood, PC, in West Chester, Pa., where you eventually became partner and head of the tax, trust, and estates department. Tell us about the work you do there.

We are really lucky at Gawthrop to have a phenomenal client base. From the start of my career, I’ve been able to work on really complicated tax, business, and trust and estate matters. I spend a significant amount of my time working through income and estate tax problems and implementing appropriate strategies to minimize those taxes for our clients.

From 2017 until 2019, you served as general counsel, chief compliance officer, and eventually chief executive officer for one of the first 12 growers and processors of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania. Additionally, your expertise in this niche area of law led you to provide legal services within that industry. What led you into this field, and what was that experience like for you?

I had a great friend from law school who was part of the management team for a multi-state operator based in Illinois. That experience seemed challenging, but also greatly rewarding to build something in a completely new industry. Or, at least newly legal industry. The experience proved to be incredibly challenging, but it was a great opportunity to learn a lot about the industry and also about running a business. I loved my time running the company, but I was also happy to transition back to more established areas of the law.

In addition to your law practice, you serve as the faculty director of the Graduate Tax Program at the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova. What advice would you share with current students and young alumni interested in going into law – specifically tax or business law – like yourself?

Spend as much time as possible learning about all the areas of law, and all the potential types of jobs for lawyers and for tax lawyers. Try to speak to as many people in the legal field as possible to gather as much information you can about the law school experience and the practice of law. In addition to helping you feel prepared for these next steps, it will also help you start building your professional network.

What is your favorite memory from your time on campus?

This is again pretty difficult to distill into one favorite memory. For family harmony, I probably have to select having class with my father, Dr. Kurt Olsen. I took Intro to Psychology with him the second semester of my senior year. His classes have a reputation for not being an easy A, and I suspect he would have gladly put me through the ringer. Thankfully, Lycoming required that I take his class pass/fail. It was fun getting to spend the semester with someone I had looked up to my entire life doing the work that he loved, while not being worried about my grade.

In the Spotlight recognizes members of our alumni community who are doing great things that have been influenced by their time at Lycoming College. Alumni Spotlight submissions are used at the discretion of the College and may be included in the monthly eNews as space and time permit. To participate, submit an Alumni Spotlight questionnaire.