Barbara Kay Olson (née Bracher; December 27, 1955September 11, 2001) was an American lawyer and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

television commentator who worked for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

, and several other outlets. She was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 en route to a taping of Bill Maher's television show ''

Politically Incorrect ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

'' when it was flown into

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

in the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

Early life

Olson was born Barbara Kay Bracher in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, on December 27, 1955. Her older sister, Toni Bracher-Lawrence, was a member of the Houston City Council from 2004 to 2010. She graduated from

Waltrip High School Stephen Pool Waltrip High School is a public high school located at 1900 West 34th Street in Houston, Texas, United States, 77018. Waltrip, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Waltrip has Hou ...

Personal life

She married

Theodore Olson Theodore Bevry Olson (born September 11, 1940) is an American lawyer, practicing at the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Olson served as United States Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel (1981–1984) ...

in 1996, becoming his third wife. Olson was a frequent critic of the Bill Clinton administration and wrote a book about then

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, ''Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton'' (1999). Olson's second book, ''The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House'' was published posthumously.

Death and legacy

Olson was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77, on her way to a taping of ''

'' in Los Angeles, when it was flown into

in the

. Her original plan had been to fly to California on September 10, but she waited until the next day so that she could wake up with her husband on his birthday, September 11. At the

National September 11 Memorial The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bombi ...

, Olson's name is located on Panel S-70 of the South Pool, along with those of other passengers of Flight 77. Three months after the attacks, Olson's remains were identified. She was buried at her family's retreat in Wisconsin.

Books

* *

References

External links

* * * *
Wife of Solicitor General alerted him of hijacking from plane

Barbara Olson Mourned at Arlington Service

Barbara Olson: A Sparkling Celebrity 'Full of Energy'
Newsday.com-Victims Search * Alfred S. Regnery (September 17, 2001)
"Barbara Olson, RIP"
''

Human Events ''Human Events'' is an American conservative political news and analysis website. Founded in 1944 as a print newspaper, ''Human Events'' became a digital-only publication in 2013. ''Human Events'' takes its name from the first sentence of the Un ...

''/BNet Research Center. {{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Barbara 1955 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women writers American Airlines Flight 77 American political commentators American political writers American women television personalities American terrorism victims Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law alumni Lawyers from Washington, D.C. People from Houston People murdered in Virginia Terrorism deaths in Virginia University of St. Thomas (Texas) alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Victims of the September 11 attacks Washington, D.C., Republicans Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr associates Television personalities from Texas