City of Saint Paul
City Attorney, City of Saint Paul
Lyndsey Olson was appointed as the Saint Paul City Attorney by Mayor Melvin Carter in 2018. As the City Attorney, Ms. Olson provides leadership to the second-largest municipal law office in the State of Minnesota, overseeing a staff of nearly 80 legal professionals. The Saint Paul City Attorney’s Office operates under a vision of innovation, inclusion, sustainability and accessibility, and provides legal counsel and civil litigation services to the Mayor, City Council, City Departments, Housing Redevelopment Authority, Port Authority, and Public Housing Agency. The Office also prosecutes the criminal violation of City Ordinances, State Misdemeanor and Gross Misdemeanor Statutes.
Ms. Olson, a 2003 graduate of the Hamline School of Law and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, was previously the general counsel of the Minnesota National Guard and Minnesota Department of Military Affairs from 2013 to 2018 where she managed and directed all legal matters for the department in 62 communities around the state. She is still currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the Minnesota National Guard Judge Advocate General’s Corps. She is also a combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where she received a Bronze Star for her service there as a criminal prosecutor and international law attorney.
Ms. Olson is a frequent national CLE instructor and is the author of several publications. She has been named to the Minnesota Business Journal’s list of top in-house counsel, Minnesota Lawyer’s Attorneys of the Year, and is one of Minnesota Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. She also serves on the board of directors for Central Minnesota Legal Services.