2009
Lynn T. Olsen, 92, a retired secretary and administrative assistant with the federal government, died April 10 of a
cerebral hemorrhage at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Mrs. Olsen was born Lynn Tompkins in New Orleans and moved to Washington with her widowed mother and elder
sister in the 1920s. She graduated from Western High School and attended George Washington University, but the
Depression forced her to drop out and look for work. At age 19, in 1935, she took a secretarial position with the Federal
Housing Administration. During World War II, she worked for the Office of Strategic Services, precursor to the Central
Intelligence Agency.
She also worked for the State Department, the Office of Defense Mobilization and the United Nations Conference on
International Organization in San Francisco. Additionally, she was an administrative assistant with the American
delegation to the Nuremberg trials.
After her marriage to Benjamin C. Olsen, a CIA budget and finance officer, she lived and worked in England, where she
was president of the American Embassy Wives group. She also lived and worked in France and Iran.
Her husband died in 1996.
Survivors include her son, Douglas Olsen of Alexandria.
-- Joe Holley