John Anthony Olszewski Jr. ( ; born September 10, 1982), also known by his nickname Johnny O, is an American politician who has served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 2nd congressional district since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 14th county executive of Baltimore County, Maryland, from 2018 to 2025.
Olszewski served as a student member of the Baltimore County Board of Education from 1999 to 2000, and two terms in the Maryland House of Delegates representing the 6th district from 2006 to 2015. The district covered most of the southeastern portion of Baltimore County, including the town of Dundalk, Maryland. Olszewski unsuccessfully ran for the Maryland Senate in District 6 in 2014, narrowly losing to Republican challenger Johnny Ray Salling. Olszewski became Baltimore County Executive in 2018 after narrowly defeating state senator James Brochin in the 2018 Democratic primary election and defeating former state Insurance Commissioner Alfred W. Redmer Jr. in the general election. Olszewski was re-elected in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Pat McDonough.
Olszewski was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024, after defeating Republican radio host Kimberly Klacik in the general election. He was sworn in on January 3, 2025.
Early life and education
Olszewski was the eldest of three sons born to father John Olszewski, a lobbyist and a former member of the Baltimore County Council from 1998 to 2014, and mother Sherry Olszewski (née Crusse). He was raised in Dundalk, Maryland, and graduated from Sparrows Point High School in 2000.
Following high school, Olszewski attended Goucher College, from which he graduated with a bachelor's in political science and American studies. After college, Olszewski pursued a master's in political management from George Washington University, which he obtained in 2006. In 2017, Olszewski earned a doctorate from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Early political career Olszewski was appointed to the Baltimore County Board of Education as the student member of the board, serving from 1999 to 2000. He was later elected to a term on the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee, serving from 2002 to 2006. After graduating from Goucher, Olszewski began teaching social studies and special education at Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts for five years and worked as a countywide resource teacher for two years.
Maryland House of Delegates In June 2006, Olszewski was nominated by the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee to fill the seat left by the resignation of John S. Arnick, who had been appointed to the Maryland Board of Contract Appeals. Governor Bob Ehrlich appointed Olszewski to the seat on June 10, and he was sworn in on June 12. Olszewski was elected to a full four-year term in 2006 and subsequently re-elected in 2010.
In the legislature, Olszewski was a member of the Environmental Matters Committee in 2006, afterwards serving in the Ways and Means Committee until 2010 and then the Economic Matters Committee until 2015. In 2011, he was elected as chairman of the Baltimore County Delegation, making him the youngest person to ever fill that role. In 2012, Olszewski served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledged to President Barack Obama.
In July 2013, Olszewski announced that he would run for the Maryland Senate, seeking to succeed Norman R. Stone Jr., who had announced that he would retire at the end of his term in 2014. The district was targeted by the Maryland Republican Party during the 2014 Maryland Senate election following declining union membership in the Dundalk area, and Olszewski specifically was targeted for his vote for Maryland's "Rain Tax". In the general election, Olszewski faced Republican candidate Johnny Ray Salling and unaffiliated candidate Scott Collier. Olszewski was defeated by Salling in the general election by a margin of 851 votes, or by 2.8 percent.
Following his defeat, Olszewski worked as a senior account executive at SAS Institute. He also created a group called A Better Baltimore County to travel across the county and listen to voters' concerns, and worked as a lobbyist in Baltimore's transportation department, promoting issues such as the Baltimore Red Line.
Baltimore County Executive
Tenure
In April 2017, the Dundalk Eagle reported that Olszewski was considering a run for Baltimore County Executive, seeking to succeed Kevin Kamenetz, who was term-limited. On June 27, 2017, Olszewski announced his candidacy in the 2018 Baltimore County Executive election. In the Democratic primary, he faced state senator James Brochin and county councilwoman Vicki Almond. He received endorsements from The Baltimore Sun, state delegate Stephen W. Lafferty, the Baltimore-D.C. Building Trades Unions, and former governor Martin O'Malley. Olszewski won the Democratic primary in June 2018, edging out Brochin by nine votes. Following a recount, Olszewski's lead over Brochin expanded to 17 votes. In the general election, Olszewski faced former Republican state delegate Alfred W. Redmer Jr., who sought to tie Olszewski to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ben Jealous. Olszewski re-positioned himself from being a "progressive Democrat" to pitching a message of bipartisanship. Olszewski defeated Redmer in the general election on November 6, 2018, receiving 57.8 percent of the vote to Redmer's 42 percent.
Olszewski was sworn in as Baltimore County Executive on December 3, 2018. Sworn in at the age of 36, he is the youngest person to serve as Baltimore County Executive. Olszewski was re-elected in 2022, in which he defeated former state delegate Pat McDonough with 63.7 percent of the vote.
During his tenure as county executive, Olszewski supported legislation to ban source of income discrimination in housing, backed efforts to expand the county council, and established the Office of the Inspector General. In December 2023, he became the president of the Maryland Association of Counties, during which he criticized and sought to negotiate on Governor Wes Moore's proposal to cut $3.3 billion in state transportation funding. Olszewski was also an at-large delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, pledged to Kamala Harris.
Olszewski resigned as county executive on January 3, 2025, after which county administrative officer D'Andrea Walker served as the acting county executive until the Baltimore County Council elected an interim successor. The county council began accepting applications from interested candidates on November 6, 2024, receiving twelve applications from candidates seeking to succeed Olszewski, though two of these candidates would later drop out of the race. Following a public feedback event in December 2024, the Baltimore County Council narrowed the list of potential county executive applicants to five finalists. Olszewski declined to say who he supported in the contest to succeed him as county executive, but said he wanted the county council would select a female or Black contender and opposed contenders who propose deep cuts to county services—a remark aimed at former state senator James Brochin, who promised to cut the funding of every county agency except for public safety by 10–20 percent. On January 7, 2025, the Baltimore County Council voted to elect state senator Kathy Klausmeier to succeed Olszewski as county executive.
COVID-19 pandemic
On March 12, 2020, the Maryland Department of Health confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in Baltimore County, Maryland. Later that night, Olszewski announced that the county would close all senior centers and would immediately suspend all nonessential out-of-state travel for employees. On March 24, Olszewski requested support from the Maryland National Guard to provide humanitarian and emergency management assistance in Baltimore County. On April 12, after President Donald Trump ordered General Motors to begin manufacturing ventilators for COVID-19 patients at auto plants, Olszewski asked Trump to reopen its shuttered plant in White Marsh for the same purpose.
After Governor Larry Hogan announced the start of the state's partial reopening on May 13, Olszewski said they would take "a close look" at Hogan's actions and determine their course in the next 24 hours. At the time, Baltimore County had 12 percent of the state's case count. On May 14, Olszewski said that most restrictions would remain in effect. On May 20, Olszewski signed onto a letter expressing concern about the consequences of Hogan's partial reopening and asking for guidance from the administration as they decided how to proceed. He also announced that appointment-free drive-through testing would be available at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. On June 10, after Governor Hogan announced the next stage of the state's partial reopening, Olszewski said he would review the governor's executive order before deciding whether to follow it.
In July 2020, as hospitalization rates began to rise again, Olszewski issued a new indoor mask mandate and chastised Governor Hogan for being "absent" from weekly briefings with Maryland's eight largest counties and Baltimore City, urging him to return to their weekly dialogue. He also signed onto a letter demanding that Hogan adopt a mail-in election format for the November 3 general election. In September, Olszewski proposed allocating $3 million in federal relief funds for the county's rental assistance program to help alleviate the amount of evictions following the end of the state's eviction moratorium. In November, Olszewski issued an executive order banning social gatherings larger than 25 people and formed a task force to inspect more than 7,000 establishments in Baltimore County to ensure that they were complying with COVID-19 orders. In December, Olszewski signed an executive order blocking restaurants from collecting more than 15 percent in commission from food delivery app orders.
In January 2021, Olszewski opened the county's first vaccination clinic at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. Governor Hogan called the Fairgrounds vaccination clinic the "best operation in the state" and later announced in March 2021 that it would be converted to a mass vaccination site in partnership with Baltimore County. In June 2021, after Governor Hogan lifted most of the state's COVID-19 restrictions, Olszewski said he would allow the county's state of emergency declaration to expire on July 9. In August 2021, Olszewski issued a new indoor masking requirement and declared a new state of emergency following a spike in cases of the Delta variant. In December 2021, Olszewski declared a new state of emergency and again required indoor masking amid a surge in cases of the omicron variant. On February 14, 2022, Olszewski announced that the county would lift its indoor mask mandate and end required COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated employees.
Ethics controversies