Air Force Chief Data, AI Officer John Olson Promoted to Major General

John Olson, the Department of the Air Force’s first chief data and artificial intelligence officer, has been promoted to the rank of major general.

Olson, who also serves as mobilization assistant to the chief of space operations, is responsible for leading efforts at the Space Force and Air Force to operationalize data and reach AI and machine learning readiness.

He also manages DAF’s initiatives to enable military operations across the air, land, sea, space and cyber domains in support of the Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control program.

The Air Force Academy graduate spent 12 years at the service branch before he took on federal civilian roles at NASA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

He previously held leadership roles at companies Sierra Nevada Corp. and Polaris Defense and served on the air and space engineering board of National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

The Pentagon first announced Olson’s nomination for appointment to the grade of major general in July.

In a recent interview with Executive Mosaic, Olson gave his perspective on the use of data as the “fuel that powers everything” and “disruptive element of the 21st century.” Watch the full video at ExecutiveMosaic.com.

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