Richard Olson
Richard Olson was a Fulbright Fellow in Colombia in 1968-69. He returned to Latin America in 1972 to conduct field research on the Managua, Nicaragua, earthquake. Since then, he has been directly involved in disaster response, evaluation, and research for more than 20 events, including 1976 Guatemala earthquake; the 1985 Chile earthquake; the 1985 Mexico City earthquakes; the 1985 volcanic eruptions, landslides, and lahar in Colombia; hurricanes in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua in 1998; and earthquakes in El Salvador in 1986 and 2001.
In addition to more than 60 research articles, monographs, and major papers, Olson has been lead author on the books, The Politics of Earthquake Prediction and Some Buildings Just Can’t Dance: Politics, Life Safety, and Disaster.
His most recent articles are “From Disaster Event to Political Crisis: A ‘5C+A’ Framework for Analysis,” in the August 2010 issue of International Studies Perspectives and “Establishing Public Accountability, Speaking Truth to Power, and Inducing Political Will for Disaster Risk Reduction: ‘Ocho Rios+25’” in Environmental Hazards in 2011.
Workshop Abstracts
Disaster Risk Reduction, Public Accountability, and the Role of the Media:
Concepts, Cases, and Conclusions
Related Resources from Richard Olson
From Disaster Event to Political Crisis: A ''5C+A'' Framework for AnalysisWith Vincent T. Gawronski
International Studies Perspectives, 2010
