Meridian Bank continued a tradition of offering thought-provoking speakers for its CEO Series when it invited former CIA Chief of Counterintelligence Jim Olson to talk with Meridian’s business customers Feb. 27.

Olson shared his more than 30 years of experience working undercover, speaking to 150 of Meridian’s best customers during the elegant affair at the Inn at Villanova University in Radnor.

Both he and his wife, Meredith, worked deep cover for the CIA.

“It has been a wonderful journey if we could we’d go back and do it all over again,” he said.

His talk included details of a mission he undertook in the former Soviet Union when he helped smuggle a KGB cryptography officer, his wife, and his 5-year-old daughter out of the country.

Olson also offered his opinion on U.S. and world politics during a question-and-answer session.

CEO Series

Meridian’s CEO Series started as a coffee-and-Danish, conference room affair shortly after the bank’s founding in 2004 when a few of the bank’s business customers gathered to listen to local experts.

The well-received talks encouraged Meridian to move the event to larger venues and bring in nationally known speakers.

Since then, speakers have included Rich Diviney, a retired Navy SEAL commander; Jeff Hunter, an FBI special agent; former Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey; Brian Beaulieu, CEO of ITR Economics; and Bill McDermott, former CEO of SAP.

The successful CEO Series is offered several times each year, providing education and insight to Meridian’s business customers and organizational leaders.

Jim Olson’s background

Jim Olson served for over 30 years in the Directorate of Operations of the Central Intelligence Agency, mostly overseas in clandestine operations.

He has been awarded the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, the Donovan Award, and several Distinguished Service Citations.

Olson teaches courses on intelligence and counterintelligence as a professor at the Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University.

He is the author of Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying and To Catch a Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence.

Before joining the CIA, he earned  a law degree from the University of Iowa and served as a US Navy lieutenant.

Spy catcher

He began his talk with a warning.

“I wish I had better news for you. Never in my career have I considered it more dangerous than it is right now,” he said.

“We have saved you from so many terrorist attacks you don’t even know about,” he added later.

Olson described himself as a “spy catcher,” someone who identifies American traitors.

“There are spies everywhere. There are probably spies in this room right now,” he said, half-jokingly.

Olson has come up against the Russian KGB, Cubans, North Koreans, and organized crime.

It was fortunate he met his wife in the CIA because the job can make a marriage difficult, he said.

“Your spouse has to be committed,” he said. “We made sacrifices. For me, the CIA was a perfect place to meet my perfect spouse.”

“Meredith is beautiful, petite, feminine, and is also extremely dangerous,” he joked.  

No one knew he worked for the CIA—not his parents, his brother, his friends, or even his own children until years later.

His three children only found out after their safety was threatened by Iranian terrorists who sent him and his family a death threat letter while they were living in Vienna.

CIA recruit

Olson was in his last year of law school when a CIA spotter reached out to him with a career opportunity.

Spotters spend time on campuses looking for students who may be CIA material. Many of them are professors.

These days, the CIA is more open about its recruitment on college campuses, he added.

He underwent intense interviews and a battery of psychological and physical tests before he was hired for clandestine services.

His plan had been to work for the CIA for two years then go back to the law. It didn’t work out that way.

“The art of espionage quickly got into my blood,” he said.

Even so, in order to maintain his cover, Olson finished his law degree and took the bar exam.

Working undercover

While simultaneously working for the CIA, he has also had careers in international banking, as a journalist, a book publisher, and even had work in the travel industry.

He learned Russian, German, French and Spanish, was trained to kill with his hands, learned about explosives, disguises, lock picking and jumping out of airplanes.

Olson was also given different gadgets to help him with his work, his favorite being a belt buckle that fired a single shot.

“So when I’m talking with you afterwards, don’t stand in front,” he joked.

Olson offered some hope as he concluded his talk.

“Our adversaries are many, they are strong, and their hatred knows no limits, but our military, police and intelligence persons will prevail,” he said. “Our young are strong and are stepping forward in great droves to join up.”