Jon Olafson is a Shareholder in the Firm’s Denver office and a member of the Labor & Employment practice group and is the founding shareholder of Buchalter’s Organizational Inclusion, Diversity, and Belonging practice group. Mr. Olafson is an experienced complex commercial and corporate litigator and counselor, which specifically includes business tort, corporate and non-profit fiduciary duties and board governance, trade secret and corporate espionage, restrictive covenants, and employment discrimination litigation and counseling on a national scope.

Mr. Olafson is also an award-winning consultant and leader with regard to organizational inclusion, diversity, equity, belonging, and authenticity. Inclusion plans, however, must be narrowly tailored for each specific organization, its workforce, its leaders, and its industry. With a certificate in organizational inclusion and diversity from Cornell University, Mr. Olafson has training in evidence-based techniques and tools to benefit your business. Mr. Olafson’s experience as a corporate, employment, and litigation attorneys helps inform his guidance as to how your plan addresses your overall business and people goals. Success in these programs is incumbent on buy-in from all levels of your organization. Mr. Olafson has helped to form one of the first corporate and organizational-wide practice groups in the country, taking into account an entire organizational view of inclusion and belonging.

Priding himself on being involved in his community, Mr. Olafson currently serves as the Secretary of the Board for the Center for Legal Inclusiveness, Interim Secretary for the Sam Cary Bar Association, and the Diversity and Inclusion Director for the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association. Mr. Olafson previously served on the Colorado Bar Association’s Executive Council as an at-large member, the Board of Governors representative for the Colorado Bar Association Labor and Employment Section, and on Group IV of the Colorado Bar Association’s Diversity Initiatives. As part of his role on the CBA’s Executive Council, he founded and chaired the Racial Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee. Since 2020, he has been a Bar Fellow with the Colorado Bar Foundation. Mr. Olafson is also the immediate past president of the Nathan Yip Foundation and is on the Board of Directors for Opera Colorado, where he also serves on the organization’s diversity committee.  Mr. Olafson is an out gay man and he and his partner enjoy traveling, paddle-boarding, and spending time with their dogs, Elske and Bailey.

Awards and Honors

• 5280 Magazine’s Top Lawyer in Denver, Employment Law – Management, 2023.
• Best Lawyers in America® 2023 & 2024 — Employment Law – Management.
• Super Lawyer, Labor and Employment Law, Colorado Super Lawyers; 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
• Sam Cary Bar Association’s (SCBA) Ben Aisenberg Diversity Leadership Award, 2022.
• Texas Tech University School of Law’s Daniel H. Benson Public Service Award, 2022
• Colorado LGBT Bar Association’s Attorney of the Year, 2021.
• Rising Star, Labor and Employment Law, Colorado Super Lawyers; 2014, 2015, and 2016.
• Highest ranking of “Superb” (10/10), AVVO.com.

Professional Involvement

• Member, Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs, 2023-Present
• Secretary and Executive Board, Center for Legal Inclusiveness, January 2023-Present
• Secretary and Executive Board, Sam Cary Bar Association, January 2023-Present
• Board of Directors and Equity and Inclusivity Director, Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, 2021-Present
• Executive Council, Colorado Bar Association, 2020-2022
• Chair, Racial Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee of the Executive Council, Colorado Bar Association, 2020-2022
• Budget Committee, Colorado Bar Association, 2021-2022
• Executive Board and Student Organization Liaison, Sam Cary Bar Association, 2022-2023
• Co-Chair, Search Committee for Executive Director, Center for Legal Inclusiveness, 2022
• Co-Facilitator, CBA Native American History Month Social Media Content, November 2021
• Center for Legal Inclusiveness, Advisory Board, January 2022 – Present
• Co-Chair/Co-Founder, Colorado Diverse Attorneys Community Circle (“CODACC”) Colorado Bar Association, 2020-present
• Convention Committee, Colorado Women’s Bar Association, 2021-2022
• Moderator and Content Organization, Creating an LGBTQ+ Affirming Organization, Colorado Bar Association’s Lawyers as Leaders Speaker Series, June 2021
• Facilitator and Organizer, Colorado Bar Association Working Group on Family Law Forms Amendments — a project to amend family law forms for greater inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community
• Facilitator and Organizer, Colorado Bar Association’s Transgender Day of Remembrance Social Media Campaign, November 2021
• Facilitator and Organizer, Colorado Bar Association’s Transgender Day of Visibility Campaign, March 2021
• Featured Member, The 1891, Colorado Women’s Bar Association Blog.
• Planner/Founder/Organizer, Colorado Bar Association annual collaborative Pride/Juneteenth Picnic, with co-sponsors from CBA YLD, APABA, SABA, LGBT Bar, and SCBA
• Chair, Executive Council Working Group on Racial Justice, Colorado Bar Association, 2020
• Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, Nominating Committee; 2021, 2022
• Founder and Organizer, Colorado LEADS (Lawyers Engaging about Diversity and Solidarity), 2020-Present
• Chair, REDI Committee for Lewis Brisbois’ Denver Office; 2019-present
• Chair and Founder, National LGBTQ+ Affinity Group, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard and Smith, 2021-Present
• Colorado Bar Association Foundation Fellow, Colorado Bar Association Foundation, 2020-Present
• Committee Member, Team 4 Accountability:  Transparency, Measuring & Reporting Progress, Colorado Bar Association Diversity Initiative, 2019-2021
• Colorado Bar Association Board of Governors, 2018-present
• Executive Council, Colorado Bar Association Labor and Employment Section, 2016-present
• Chair, Labor and Employment Law Section, Colorado Bar Association, 2016-2018
• Member, LGBT Bar Association
• Member, National LGBT Bar Association
• Member, Colorado Women’s Bar Association
• Member, Asian Pacific American Bar Association
• Member, Sam Cary Bar Association
• Member, Colorado Hispanic Bar Association
• Texas Bar Association, 2001-present
• Colorado Bar Association, 2011-present
• Denver Bar Association, 2011-present

Bar Admissions

• Colorado
• Texas

• Drafting Preliminary Injunctions
• Privacy in the Workplace
• Defrosting your Solicitation and “Other Work” Policies: 4 Tips to NLRA Compliance
• State Regulations Update: Marijuana Use and the Workplace
• Avoiding Employer Liability Under the Affordable Care Act
• Throwing a Party — Employer Responsibilities
• Offer letters, Employment Agreements, and Non-compete Agreements
• Finding the Right Non-Profit
• Finding the Right Clients
• The Nonprofit Board’s Legal Duties
• Institutional and Systemic Racism Identification