Since retiring from the U.S. Foreign Service in May 2012, Jeff Olesen has stayed busy with several recreational and organizational activities. Among them is as the Marketing Director of the Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning (SILL) which presents lectures in Global Issues by former Ambassadors, noted academics and award-winning journalists; and music conversations with leading performers, composers and commentators.

Before retiring, Jeff was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. His final tour was as the Department of State’s Diplomat in Residence for Florida and Puerto Rico, hosted by Florida International University and Miami-Dade College. Before assuming this position, he served from July 2007 until July 2010 as Minister-Counselor for Management Affairs to the three U.S. Missions in Vienna; the U.S. Mission to Austria, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Vienna (US UNVIE) and the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (USOSCE).

Mr. Olesen holds an undergraduate degree (B.A.) in history and government from Cornell University (1970), and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from West Virginia University’s College of Graduate Studies (1978).