Jon Olafson

Shareholder

Direct: (303) 253-6751
Email: [email protected]
Offices: Denver
Bar Admissions: Colorado, Texas

Biography
News
Presentations & Publications
Podcasts
Education
Court Admissions
Community

Jon Olafson is a Shareholder in the Firm’s Denver office and a member of the Labor & Employment practice group and is the founding shareholder of Buchalter’s Organizational Inclusion, Diversity, and Belonging practice group. Mr. Olafson is an experienced complex commercial and corporate litigator and counselor, which specifically includes business tort, corporate and non-profit fiduciary duties and board governance, trade secret and corporate espionage, restrictive covenants, and employment discrimination litigation and counseling on a national scope.

Mr. Olafson is also an award-winning consultant and leader with regard to organizational inclusion, diversity, equity, belonging, and authenticity. Inclusion plans, however, must be narrowly tailored for each specific organization, its workforce, its leaders, and its industry. With a certificate in organizational inclusion and diversity from Cornell University, Mr. Olafson has training in evidence-based techniques and tools to benefit your business. Mr. Olafson’s experience as a corporate, employment, and litigation attorneys helps inform his guidance as to how your plan addresses your overall business and people goals. Success in these programs is incumbent on buy-in from all levels of your organization. Mr. Olafson has helped to form one of the first corporate and organizational-wide practice groups in the country, taking into account an entire organizational view of inclusion and belonging.

Priding himself on being involved in his community, Mr. Olafson currently serves as the Secretary of the Board for the Center for Legal Inclusiveness, Interim Secretary for the Sam Cary Bar Association, and the Diversity and Inclusion Director for the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association. Mr. Olafson previously served on the Colorado Bar Association’s Executive Council as an at-large member, the Board of Governors representative for the Colorado Bar Association Labor and Employment Section, and on Group IV of the Colorado Bar Association’s Diversity Initiatives. As part of his role on the CBA’s Executive Council, he founded and chaired the Racial Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee. Since 2020, he has been a Bar Fellow with the Colorado Bar Foundation. Mr. Olafson is also the immediate past president of the Nathan Yip Foundation and is on the Board of Directors for Opera Colorado, where he also serves on the organization’s diversity committee. Mr. Olafson is an out gay man and he and his partner enjoy traveling, paddle-boarding, and spending time with their dogs, Elske and Bailey.

Awards and Honors

5280 Magazine’s Top Lawyer in Denver, Employment Law – Management, 2023.
Best Lawyers in America® 2023 & 2024 — Employment Law – Management.
Super Lawyer, Labor and Employment Law, Colorado Super Lawyers; 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Sam Cary Bar Association’s (SCBA) Ben Aisenberg Diversity Leadership Award, 2022.
Texas Tech University School of Law’s Daniel H. Benson Public Service Award, 2022
Colorado LGBT Bar Association’s Attorney of the Year, 2021.
Rising Star, Labor and Employment Law, Colorado Super Lawyers; 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Highest ranking of “Superb” (10/10), AVVO.com.

Professional Involvement

Member, Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs, 2023-Present
Secretary and Executive Board, Center for Legal Inclusiveness, January 2023-Present
Secretary and Executive Board, Sam Cary Bar Association, January 2023-Present
Board of Directors and Equity and Inclusivity Director, Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, 2021-Present
Executive Council, Colorado Bar Association, 2020-2022
Chair, Racial Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee of the Executive Council, Colorado Bar Association, 2020-2022
Budget Committee, Colorado Bar Association, 2021-2022
Executive Board and Student Organization Liaison, Sam Cary Bar Association, 2022-2023
Co-Chair, Search Committee for Executive Director, Center for Legal Inclusiveness, 2022
Co-Facilitator, CBA Native American History Month Social Media Content, November 2021
Center for Legal Inclusiveness, Advisory Board, January 2022 – Present
Co-Chair/Co-Founder, Colorado Diverse Attorneys Community Circle (“CODACC”) Colorado Bar Association, 2020-present
Convention Committee, Colorado Women’s Bar Association, 2021-2022
Moderator and Content Organization, Creating an LGBTQ+ Affirming Organization, Colorado Bar Association’s Lawyers as Leaders Speaker Series, June 2021
Facilitator and Organizer, Colorado Bar Association Working Group on Family Law Forms Amendments — a project to amend family law forms for greater inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community
Facilitator and Organizer, Colorado Bar Association’s Transgender Day of Remembrance Social Media Campaign, November 2021
Facilitator and Organizer, Colorado Bar Association’s Transgender Day of Visibility Campaign, March 2021
Featured Member, The 1891, Colorado Women’s Bar Association Blog.
Planner/Founder/Organizer, Colorado Bar Association annual collaborative Pride/Juneteenth Picnic, with co-sponsors from CBA YLD, APABA, SABA, LGBT Bar, and SCBA
Chair, Executive Council Working Group on Racial Justice, Colorado Bar Association, 2020
Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, Nominating Committee; 2021, 2022
Founder and Organizer, Colorado LEADS (Lawyers Engaging about Diversity and Solidarity), 2020-Present
Chair, REDI Committee for Lewis Brisbois’ Denver Office; 2019-present
Chair and Founder, National LGBTQ+ Affinity Group, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard and Smith, 2021-Present
Colorado Bar Association Foundation Fellow, Colorado Bar Association Foundation, 2020-Present
Committee Member, Team 4 Accountability: Transparency, Measuring & Reporting Progress, Colorado Bar Association Diversity Initiative, 2019-2021
Colorado Bar Association Board of Governors, 2018-present
Executive Council, Colorado Bar Association Labor and Employment Section, 2016-present
Chair, Labor and Employment Law Section, Colorado Bar Association, 2016-2018
Member, LGBT Bar Association
Member, National LGBT Bar Association
Member, Colorado Women’s Bar Association
Member, Asian Pacific American Bar Association
Member, Sam Cary Bar Association
Member, Colorado Hispanic Bar Association
Texas Bar Association, 2001-present
Colorado Bar Association, 2011-present
Denver Bar Association, 2011-present