JULIA OLSON

Julia founded Our Children’s Trust in 2010 and leads our programmatic work, including the development of a cutting-edge legal strategy and program-driven communications campaigns to further our mission. Julia leads our legal efforts against the U.S. federal government and oversees and supports our global and domestic program.  

Julia serves as lead counsel in two federal cases: Juliana v. United States and Genesis v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2016, for the first time ever, a court declared a constitutionally protected, climate-specific right in Juliana inspiring courts in other jurisdictions around the world to similarly recognize such a right. For the first part of her career Julia represented grassroots conservation groups working to protect the environment, organic agriculture, and human health before focusing her life’s work on children’s rights and climate change.  

Julia is an accomplished speaker sharing her story and unwavering commitment to children’s rights before business leaders at Tiger 21 and global audiences at We Don’t Have Time created to influence world leaders on the need for climate solutions. Julia has been interviewed for and quoted in numerous national and international media stories. She is the author of numerous publications including “Children’s Rights to a Life-Sustaining Climate: The Foundational Rule of Law to Achieve Sustainable Abundance for Humanity” in Northeastern University Law Review (2023) and “Our Response to the Climate Crisis Will Determine Our Children’s Future” in The Next 25: A Collection of Essays on the Future of Human Rights for Article3.org in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights where she also presented.  

Julia is a recipient of numerous awards including Kerry Rydberg Award for Environmental Activism (2017), Rose-Walters Prize for Global Activism (2018), Katharine & George Alexander Law Prize (2022), and Berkeley Law Environmental Leadership Award (2024). In 2023, TIME100Climate called her one of the world’s most influential leaders driving climate action following our win in the first-ever constitutional climate trial in the United States, Held v. State of Montana.  

She is a member of Rachel’s Network Circle of Advisors. Julia received her JD from University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and BA from University of Colorado.