John (“JD”) Olson, Class of 1984, has been named general counsel and corporate secretary of Sadara Chemical Company. He and his wife,Carla (Livingston)(Class of 1983) have relocated to Al-Khobar, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He will report to Sadara’s chief executive officer, Ziad S. Al-Labban.  Sadara, a $20 billion joint venture developed by The Dow Chemical Company and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), was formed in 2011 and will build and operate a world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City. The Sadara complex represents the largest American investment in Saudi Arabia and will be one of the world’s largest integrated chemical facilities, and the largest ever built in one single phase.  Construction is underway and Sadara is expected to commence operations in 2015 and, at full production, will deliver annual revenues of approximately $10 billion.

JD has been with Dow for 24 years and has worked on the Sadara project since 2009.  At IWU, he earned a B.S. (Accounting) and B.A. (Spanish). He earned his Juris Doctor from Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri) in 1987.  JD and Carla have two daughters, Samantha (IWU Class of 2014) and Alexis, a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame.