1. PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
Richard Andrew Olsen
3469 Limelight Lane Whitestown, IN 46075
(317) 910-9880 ● rich_olsen@hotmail.com
QUALIFICATION OVERVIEW
 A well-qualified and technically-proficient researcher with over 6 years of wet lab experience in a
reputed and global biotech company
 Proven experience of working in a high throughput (HTP) environment to screen genes (up to 100
plasmids a week) with a 4 member team using a proprietary Cell Based Assay
 Experience in preparing an array of diverse plant culture media and maintaining short and long term
culture bank
 3+ years of experience using a Beckman Quanta flow cytometer for routine fluorescent protein gene
expression characterization of protoplasts
 Substantial experience in initiating and maintaining several crop and model plant cell cultures
including unique photoautotrophic cultures
 Specialized in preparing true single cells (provided DAS Patent (US 8,206,983) support) and
protoplasts from cell cultures or intact plant tissues, characterizing them for homogeneity/purity and
evaluating their amenability for transfection
 Experience working with several types of microscopes to characterize transient expression of
fluorescent proteins, cell density, and viability assessments of cultures
 Used JMP statistical tool, trained in severalaspects of corporate lab process, routinely used 3 research
databases and maintained electronic research notebooks (ELN)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
1. Scientific Analyst (2010-Present): On assignment from Kelly Scientific at Advanced
Technology Development, Discovery Research, Dow AgroSciences. Indianapolis, IN
(Research Leader: Dr. J. Pon Samuel)
a. Working with the ATD RTA (Rapid Testing Assay) team challenged with developing enabling
technologies for screening zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) designs and ExZACT component testing in
DAS crops (maize, soybean, and canola).
b. Personally responsible for preparing all test media and assay reagents, personally maintaining 33
different culture lines, and validating isolated single cells with the team and characterizing cells of
soybean and maize for reporter gene expression using flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy
c. Presented findings in team meetings to assist in the decision making of the relative performance of
different culture lines and new methods.
d. Worked with discovery research cross functional groups such as Bioprocessing and Bioengineering
Research and Development (BBRD) in supporting cryo-banking of key cell culture lines
e. Trained six interns (2009-2014), including safety policies and procedures, the maintenance of
suspension cultures, single cell isolation/ transfection, and flow cytometry characterization of cells.
f. Responsible for the culture assets received from collaborators from Fruanhoffer IME, Germany
(Received peer recognition award)
g. Responsible for high throughput bulking, extraction and purification of 100s of plasmids using both
kits and automation. Presented status updates to the groups to facilitate smooth process flow.
h. Used Nanodrop instrument for measuring DNA concentration, as well as automated PCR validation
using Caliper for submission to the corporate ‘Recombinant Culture Collection’

2. PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
2. Research Associate (2008-2010) On assignment from Kelly Scientific at Nanotechnology
Delivery Platform, Cell Biology Discovery Research, DAS. Indianapolis, IN (Leaders: J.
Pon Samuel (Direct Supervisor), Chary Samboju, Lakshmi Sastry-Dent, Cristie Dewes),
a. Maintained all cultures including the wildtype, transgenic and transplastomic events (maize, soybean,
rice, cotton, wheat, tobacco, carrot, tall fescue, and Arabidopsis).
b. Used DNA delivery techniques (PEG, Agrobacterium, Floral Dip, Cell Penetrating Peptides, and
Nanoparticles) and developed tranient and stable transformation methods for crop and model plants.
c. Coordinated with ATD research group and an analyst from the Birck Nanotechnology center, PU to
produce single plant cells and delivered DNA nanocomplexes/Cell penetrating peptides.
d. Worked with two summer interns to evaluate the internalization of complexes and provided patent
support (US 20110093982 A1, US 2012006443, US 0247100).
EDUCATION:
B.S., Animal Ecology (1997 – 2001): Iowa State University, Ames, IA
CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES
Course Certification (Coursera)
1. Programmed Cell Death (July - August 2014)
Dr. Barbara Conradt, Professor in Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat,
Munchen
2. Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression (May - June 2014)
Dr. Marnie Blewitt, Research Associate in Dept. of Genetics, University of Melbourne
3. Bioinformatics I (January - February 2014)
Dr. Nicolas James Provart, Associate Professor, Dept. of Cell and Systems Biology, University of
Toronto
Other Relevant Work Experiences
1. Internship Program (2008) at the Indianapolis Zoological Society, Indianapolis, IN
Worked with animals in the Encounters area. Part of a team responsible for feeding and care of
animals. Gave regular presentations about animals to zoo visitors and answered questions.
 Demanded a high level of initiative and autonomy in carrying out responsibilities.
2. U.S. Forest Service Crew Assistant (2004), Hungry Horse, MT
Part of a two person team responsible for collecting data on location and movements of grizzly bears
in northwest Montana. Hiked 7-20 miles per day through the backcountry to set up remote hair snag
stations for research on genetic diversity in the area.
 Required problem-solving, teamwork, and intense dedication.
3. Research Assistant (1999) at Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Part of a three person team researching foraging patterns in white-footed mice. Responsible for
gathering data in the field through setting traps, attaching tracking tags, moving traps to different
locations. Other responsibilities included preparing reports and repairing equipment. The research
involved long hours and hiking across varied terrain.
Other Experience/Interests
 Volunteer in nursery at church alternate months, working with children 0-24 months
 Running: Completed two marathons, five half marathons, various 5K and 10K races