Maria dG Olson
Office Director
Office of Southern European Affairs
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs

(U) Maria Olson is a member of the U.S. Department of State Senior Foreign Service and the director of the Office of Southern European Affairs with responsibility for Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, and Malta. Her next assignment will be as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece.

(U) She previously served in Russia, Jordan, Syria, and Burundi, as well as various positions in Washington, including as spokesperson for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and the Director of Crisis Management in the Department’s Operations Center.

(U) She holds a BA in French and journalism and an MA in journalism. She speaks French and some Russian and Arabic. She is married to a (retired) Diplomatic Security agent; they have four children.