Nils Olsen
Nils Olsen
Organizational Sciences BA Program Director & Undergraduate Advisor
Assistant Professor of Organizational Sciences
Core
Contact:
Email:
Nils Olsen
Room 106, 600 21st Street, NW
Washington DC 20052
Dr. Nils Olsen is a Program Director and full-time faculty member in GW's Organizational Sciences Program. He approaches his research and teaching from a behavioral economics perspective; and is most focused on: (a) decision-making in high-intensity contexts (e.g., medical, athletic, financial); and (b) decision-making in human-AI interactions. Dr. Olsen is also a member of GW's Trustworthy AI Initiative, https://trustworthyai.gwu.edu/
Dr. Nils Olsen regularly collaborates with medical professionals to explore decision-making among patients and physicians - as well as collaborating with management and marketing faculty to explore the impact of AI on consumer and executive decisions. He has publications appearing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Social Cognition, Academic Emergency Medicine, Journal of Behavioral Medicine, and Brain Research Bulletin.
Olsen's applied experience includes work with the Global Executive MBA Program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Duke Corporate Education, Inc., National Institute of Mental Health, the American Bar Foundation, and the Olympic Games. His presentations include events at JP Morgan Chase, the London Business School, the Association for Psychological Science, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, National Geographic Channel, and the National Football League (NFL).
Dr. Olsen has been honored with The George Washington University’s (Columbian College of Arts & Sciences) Program Director of the Year Award (2013), nominated for the Honey Nashman Spark a Life Award (2015), and nominated for the GW Student-Athletes' Professor of the Year Award (Finalist in 2017 & Nominee in 2018, 2019). He's also been inducted into The George Washington University's Academy of Distinguished Teachers (2026), and was most recently honored with The George Washington University's Morton A. Bender Teaching Award (2026) https://facultyaffairs.gwu.edu/bender-teaching-award-winners
2026 Morton A. Bender Teaching Award (video),
https://vimeo.com/1185610503?fl=pl&fe=vl
As a tribute to his commitment to research, Dr. Olsen has successfully mentored Organizational Sciences majors to secure either the #1 or #2 spots (or both) in GW's Research Showcase for 9 years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 (2020 – pandemic), 2021, 2022, and 2023.
- Behavioral Economics
- Consumer Decisions
- Medical Decisions
- Decision-Making & AI
Olsen's research includes: (a) decision-making in high-intensity contexts (e.g., medical, legal, financial, https://gwtoday.
- ORSC 1109 - Intro to Organizational Sciences
- ORSC 3159 - Extreme Decisions
- ORSC 4161 - Research Methods in Organizational Sciences
- ORSC 4197W - Senior Research Seminar
- ORSC 6104 - Statistics in Management, Administration, & Policy Studies
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
*Kulesa, J., Escalante, E., Olsen, N., & Lucas, R. (2023). Evolution of conflict management style during intern year of paediatric residency. The Clinical Teacher – Medical Education Journal. PMID: 37491144, DOI: 10.1111/tct.13612, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
Davis, N., Olsen, N., Perry, V. G., Stewart, M. M., & White, T. B.. (2022). I’m only human? The role of racial stereotypes, humanness and satisfaction in transactions with anthropomorphic sales bots. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research (University of Chicago Press), 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1086/722703 Article Animation https://lnkd.in/ebyCQgzw
*Peterson, L.M., **Orr, J.A., **Rogelberg, S.D., & Olsen, N. (2022). Social-contextual factors interact with masculinity to influence college men’s HPV vaccination intentions: The role of descriptive norms, prototypes, and physician gender. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 45, 825-840. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-022-00350-1
Girginov, V., Moore, P. J., Olsen, N., Godfrey, T., & Cooke, F. (2020). Wearable technology-stimulated social interaction for promoting physical activity: A systematic review. In V. Girginov (Senior Editor), P. J. Moore & N. Olsen (Guest Editors), Cogent Social Sciences, 6:1, 1742517. Oxfordshire, UK: Taylor & Francis. https://www.
Zurca, A. D., Olsen, N., & Lucas, R. (2019). Development and Validation of the Pediatric Resuscitation and Escalation of Care Self-Efficacy Scale. Hospital Pediatrics, 9(10) 801-807. https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2019-0048
Baig, K. M., Su, S., Mumford, S., Giuliani, E., Ng, S. S. M., Armstrong, C., Keil, M. F., Vaught, K. C., Olsen, N., Pettiford, E., Burd, I. & Segars, J. H. (2018). Mice deficient in AKAP13 (BRX) develop compulsive-like behavior and increased body weight. Brain Research Bulletin, 140, 72-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2018.04.005
Lucas, R. H., Farley, H., Twanmoh, J., Urumov, A., Evans, B., & Olsen, N. (2009). Measuring the opportunity loss of time spent boarding admitted patients in the emergency department: A multi-hospital analysis. Journal of Healthcare Management, 54(2), 117-125. PMID: 19413166; DOI:10.1097/
Lucas, R., Farley, H., Twanmoh, J., Urumov, A., Olsen, N., Evans, B., & Kabiri, H. (2009). Emergency department patient flow: The influence of hospital census variables on emergency department length of stay. Academic Emergency Medicine, 16(7), 597-602. PMID: 19438415; DOI: 10.1111/j.1553-
Sedikides, C., Ariely, D., & Olsen, N. (1999). Contextual and procedural determinants of partner selection: Of asymmetric dominance and prominence. Social Cognition, 17, 118-139. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1999.17.2.118 NB: This research appears in chapter 1 of the New York Times Bestseller, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions (by Dan Ariely, 2009).
Harvey, J. H., **Stein, S. K., Olsen, N., Roberts, R. J., Lutgendorf, S. K., & Ho, J. (1995). Narratives of loss and recovery from a natural disaster. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 10, 313-330. https://www.sbp-journal.com/index.php/sbp
Sedikides, C., Olsen, N., & Reis, H. T. (1993). Relationships as natural categories. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 71-82. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.64.1.71
BOOK CHAPTERS:
Olsen, N., Moore, P. J., *Hyde, S., & **Fowler, L. (2020). Healthcare treatment seeking and avoidance. In K. Sweeny & M. Robbins (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Health Psychology. New York, NY: Wiley. ISBN: 978-1-119-05783-3. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119057840.ch79
Olsen, N., Perry, V. G., & *Jin, Z. (2018). Cognition, distraction, and the financial planning client. In C. R. Chaffin (Ed.), Client Psychology (119-136). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 978-1-119-43626-3. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Client+Psychology-p-9781119436263
Girginov, V., & Olsen, N. (2014). LOCOG: A temporary organisation within a high-velocity environment. In V. Girginov (Ed.), Handbook of the London 2012 olympic and paralympic games. Volume two: Celebrating the games (71-83). London, UK: Routledge. https://www.
Rusbult, C. E., Olsen, N., Davis, J. L., & Hannon, P. (2001). Commitment and relationship maintenance mechanisms. In J. H. Harvey & A. E. Wenzel (Eds.), Close romantic relationships: Maintenance and enhancement (87-113). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781410600462/close-ro…
Harvey, J. H., **Stein, S.K., & Olsen, N. (1996). Losses resulting from natural disaster: A study of storytelling. In J. H. Harvey (Ed.), Embracing their memory: Loss and the social psychology of storytelling (152-164). Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1996-97059-000
INVITED ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES:
Olsen, N. (2007). Game Theory. In S. Clegg & J. Bailey (Eds.), International encyclopedia of organization studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://sk.sagepub.com/
Olsen, N. (2007). Cognitive Dissonance. In S. Clegg & J. Bailey (Eds.), International encyclopedia of organization studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://sk.sagepub.com/
PUBLISHED CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS:
Orr, J., Peterson, L. M., & Olsen, N. (2018, April). Does physician gender play a role in college students' human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination decisions? Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52, S52-S52. Oxford University Press. https://www.sbm.org/meetings/2023
Sawczuk, A., Olsen, N., & Davis, E. B. (2012, May). Inter-organizational relationships (IORs): Developing new models of sustainability. In T. D. Golden (Ed.), Proceedings: The Eastern Academy of Management (794-820). Philadelphia, PA. https://www.eaom.org/
Grady, V., Davis, E. B., Olsen, N., Duffy, S., & Ciampaglio, T. (2008, May). The power of effect. Panel presentation: Papers on organizational effectiveness. Proceedings: The Eastern Academy of Management, Washington, DC. https://www.eaom.org/
Aziz, A., Norris, J., Goldman, H., & Olsen, N. (2006, April). Facets of type A personality and pay increase among the employees of fast food restaurants. Proceedings: The Society for Advancement of Management International Conference, Orlando, FL. https://samnational.org/2022conference/
Olsen, N. & Burton, R. M. (2000). Asymmetric dominance versus learning: Can context override the learning of choice-set rules? Proceedings: The Annual Meeting of the Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory Conference, Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon. https://www.cmu.edu/tepper/index.html
PUBLISHED REVIEWS OF BOOK CHAPTERS:
Olsen, N. (1993). Brief Note on Humility (N. Richards). Contemporary Psychology, 38, 1123. https://www.apa.org/monitor/dec04/psyccritiques
Ph.D. in Social Psychology; additional concentration in statistics (game-theory & decision-making), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.A. in Social Psychology (juridic decisions), University of Iowa at Iowa City
B.S. in Psychology (social cognition & recall), University of Wisconsin at Madison