Bill Olson

Title
Adjunct Faculty
Email
Department
Department of Business Administration
College
College of Business

Areas of Expertise

Risk and Opportunity Management

Dr. Bill Olson, is an adjunct faculty member for the College of Business on the Worldwide Campus. He specializes in enterprise risk management and the development of detailed risk mitigation strategies.

Dr. Olson holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from George Washington University, a master’s degree in Program Management from Florida Institute of Technology and a bachelor's degree in Electronics from Chapman University. Dr. Olson earned a Professional Certification as an Expert System Engineer (ESEP) from the International Council on Systems Engineering. Dr. Olson has 20 years’ of experience managing heavy industrial risk programs. Prior to his academic career, he specialized in “heavy industrial risk management” at Newport News Shipbuilding.  He managed several $2B+ aircraft carrier new construction risk programs.  His primary focus is shipbuilding, aircraft construction and D.O.E. special projects areas. Dr. Olson retired after 25 years of service in the U.S. Navy. His last tour of duty was as the Aviation Electronic Systems Landing Equipment division officer on U.S.S. Roosevelt (CVN-71). He retired as a master chief petty officer electronic technician.

Dr. Olson's research is focused on risk and problem management. His focus is on potential risks and the development of mitigation strategies to prevent risk realization. He is particularly skilled at extracting key risk information from unstructured data. While at George Washington, Dr. Olson developed a problem management framework which is compatible with most risk management systems. He is skilled in the following system engineering tools: Active Risk Manager, @ Risk, CORE, Cradle, Rational Rose/DOORS, Project Planning and Monte Carlo Simulation.

Dr. Olson is Certified by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) as an Expert Systems Engineer (ESEP). Dr. Olson has over 20 publications in refereed journals (plus associated conference presentations and papers). He is passionate about risk and opportunity management. Beyond his scholarly achievements, Dr. Olson is retired and enjoys golf and spending time with his family. Dr. Olson is a proud Ohio native - Go Buckeyes!


  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Systems Engineering, George Washington University
  • M.S. - Master of Science in Project Management, Florida Institute of Technology
  • B.S. - Bachelor of Science in Electronics, Chapman University
  • T310 - Introduction to Systems Engineering Course Certificate of Completion - Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems
  • B712 - Risk Management Course Certificate of Completion - Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems
  • Microsoft Certified Professional - Systems Engineer - Microsoft
HROM 510 Enterprise Risk management

Olson, Mazzuchi, and Sarkani.  2011.  Problem Management Process: Filling the Gap in the Systems Engineering Processes between the Risk and Opportunity Processes.  Systems Engineering Journal, Vol 15, Issue 3, pp 275-286, Nov 2011

Sprauer, Blackburn, Blessner, and Olson.  2015.  Self-Organized and Sense-Making Architect - Engineer Design Teams: Leveraging Health Care’s Approach to Managing Complex Adaptive Systems.  Journal of Management in Engineering, Vol 32, Issue 2, Sep 2015

Garstenauer, Blackburn, and Olson.  2015. A knowledge Management Based Approach to Quality Management for Large Manufacturing Organizations. Engineering Management journal, Vol 26, pp 47-58, Apr 2015

Donaldson, Blackburn, Blessner, and Olson.  2015.  An Examination of the Role of Enterprise Architecture Framework in Enterprise Transformation.  Journal of Enterprise Transformation, Vol 5, pp218-240, Sep 2015

Zahadat, Blessner, Blackburn, and Olson.  2015.  Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Security Engineering: A Framework & its Analysis.  Computers & Security Vol 55, pp 81-99, Nov 2015

Perry, Olson, Blessner, and Blackburn. 2016.  Evaluating the Systems Engineering Problem Management Process for Industrial Manufacturing Problems.  Systems Engineering Journal, Vol 19, Issue 2, pp 133-145, June 2016

Oun, Blackburn, Olson, and Blesser.  2016. An Enterprise-Wide Knowledge Management Approach to Project Management”, Engineering Management Journal, Vol 28, #3 Issue, pp 179-192, Sep 2016

Tai, Olson, and Blessner. Unsupervised Text Mining Approach to Early Warning System.  2016.  International Journal of Computer and Information Engineering, Vol 10, Issue 4, pp 788-793, 2016

Knight, Blessner, and Olson. 2016.  Transforming the purchasing strategy of high-tech medical equipment in healthcare systems.  Journal of Enterprise Transformation, Vol 6, Issue 3-4, pp 170-186, Dec 2016

Knight, Blessner, Olson, and Blackburn. 2017.  Strategic Sourcing and Corporate Social Responsibility: Aligning a Healthcare Organization's Strategic Objectives, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, Vol 23 Issue 2. pp 94-104, Mar 2017

Majewicz, Blessner, Olson and Blackburn.  2017.  Estimating the Probability of Human Error by Incorporating Component Failure Data from User-Induced Defects in the Development of Complex Electrical Systems.  Risk Analysis Journal, Vol 40, Issue 1, pp 200-214, Apr 2017

Thal, Olson, and Blessner.   2018.  A Robust System Maturity Model for Complex Systems Utilizing System Readiness Level and Petri Nets.  Complex and Intelligent Systems, Vol 4, pp 241-250, May 2018

Borbath, Blessner, and Olson.  2018.   An empirical approach to the evaluation of defense contractor performance.  International Journal of Logistics Research and Application, Vol 22, Issue 2, pp 138-153, Jul 2018

Ashby, Blessner, and Olson.  2019.  An Investigation into the impact of applying systems engineering life-cycle processes during new product development and the economic growth of diversified industrial sector. Journal of Enterprise Transformation, Vol 8, Issue 1-2, pp 98-120, Mar 2019

Lumseyfai, Holzer, Blessner, and Olson.  2019.  Best Practice Framework for Enabling High-Performing Virtual Engineering Teams.  IEEE Management Review “Journal of Practice”, Vol 47 Issue 2, pp 32-44, May 2019

George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science (Hampton Roads, Va. Campus, Sponsored On-Site Remote Locations and Online), 2012-2019. 

Master's Level:

  • Systems Engineering I. EMSE 6801
  • Systems Engineering II.  EMSE 6805
  • Problems in Engineering Management and Systems Engineering (M.S. Degree Capstone). EMSE 6099
  • Survey of Finance and Engineering Economics. EMSE 6410
  • Information and Software Engineering. EMSE 6580
  • Systems Analysis & Management. EMSE 6810
  • Management of Research and Development. EMSE 6070

Ph.D. Level:

  • Dissertation Research. EMSE 8999 - I was responsible for the curriculum development and course schedules for all classes.

Huntington Ingalls Industries - Newport News Shipbuilding; Newport News, Va.; 2001 - 2021

  • Enterprise Risk Manager/Lead Systems Engineer.
  • Senior risk manager responsible for enterprise-wide Cyber Security, nuclear, project/platform, operations, design, overhaul, training and new business proposal risk management programs.
  • Key design team member for the air traffic control suite of the CVN 21 class aircraft carrier.  Including Precision Approach, Automatic Landing, Identification Systems, etc...

U.S. Navy, Master Chief Electronic Technician (E-9); 1976-2001 (50% disabled vet).

  • Division Officer - Lead the maintenance, repair, upgrades, and lifecycle support of the air traffic control suite onboard U.S.S. Roosevelt (CVN -71)
  • Commander Naval Air Forces: Naval air station and aircraft carrier combat systems, Air Traffic Control Systems lead auditor.


International Council on Systems Engineering Expert Systems Engineer.
  • Ted Eschenbach award for best paper.  Oun, Olson, Blackburn and Blesser. An Enterprise-Wide Knowledge Approach to Project Management, Volume 28, 2016, #3 issue of Engineering Management Journal. Awarded Oct 2017.  
  • Significant number of U.S. Navy Awards and Honors.  Specifics available upon request