Former National Economic Council Deputy Director Andrew Olmem joins Mayer Brown

Mayer Brown announced today that former senior White House economic advisor Andrew Olmem has returned to the firm in Washington DC as a partner in the Public Policy, Regulatory & Political Law practice. Mr. Olmem most recently served as the Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council (NEC), where he oversaw the development and coordination of all domestic economic policies in a variety of sectors, including financial services, technology, telecom, energy and infrastructure.

“Andrew’s many years of experience working at the senior levels of the White House and Congress, especially on financial services regulatory matters, coupled with his previous work in private practice, provide him with a unique expertise on the regulatory and legislative landscape for our financial services clients,” said Duane Layton, a co-leader of Mayer Brown’s Public Policy, Regulatory & Political Law practice. “Andrew possesses the practical know-how to help clients on a broad range of issues, particularly with respect to financial regulations, transactions, Congressional investigations, enforcement actions and political crisis management.”

During his tenure in the White House, Mr. Olmem played a key role in the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, landmark legislation to address the economic downturn due to the coronavirus, and led the administration’s regulatory reform initiatives. His work coordinating economic policy has been publicly praised by the leadership of US financial regulators.

In 2017 Mr. Olmem joined the NEC, where he worked for then-NEC Director Gary Cohn and current Director Larry Kudlow. He previously served as the Special Assistant to the President for Financial Policy at the NEC, where he devised and coordinated the administration’s policies on financial services, housing finance and fintech. He led the administration’s successful efforts to pass the Economic Growth, Regulatory Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the most significant financial services legislation in a decade. He also developed the administration’s housing finance reform initiative to end the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“Mayer Brown’s position as a global leader in advising the financial services industry, and the deep regulatory expertise of its Washington office, make it uniquely positioned to assist clients with the business opportunities as well as the complex regulatory challenges before them now and arising in the future,” said Mr. Olmem. “I am very happy to be returning to Mayer Brown and look forward to collaborating with my colleagues around the world.”

Before joining the White House, Mr. Olmem was a financial services partner in private practice. He previously served as the Republican Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director for the US Senate Banking Committee under former Senate Banking Committee Chair and current Senate Appropriations Chair Richard C. Shelby (R-AL). During his more than seven years at the Banking Committee, he helped craft a wide-range of financial services legislation, conducted prominent Congressional investigations and participated in the consideration of legislation to respond to the 2008-2009 financial crisis, including the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (TARP) and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. As a leading staff negotiator, he played a significant role in the deliberations on the Dodd-Frank Act, the most important financial services regulatory legislation since the New Deal. Mr. Olmem began his legal career practicing corporate and securities law at Mayer Brown in its New York office. Before attending law school, he served as an assistant economist for monetary policy at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

According to Raj De, the managing partner of Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office, “Having held several of the most important economic policy positions in the executive and legislative branches, and bringing extensive experience working with all of the financial regulators, Andrew is well-positioned to serve our clients as a pragmatic, extremely knowledgeable and effective counsel. His government experience is truly unparalleled, as he has had a key role in shaping all of the financial services legislation over the past 15 years that has transformed the industry. His return to Mayer Brown enhances the firm’s strength in complex, high-profile and high-stakes Washington regulatory and enforcement matters. We are confident he will be an asset to clients across the globe.”