Age Group:
Adults- Registration is required for this event.
- Registration will close on January 28, 2026 @ 10:00am.
- There are 62 seats remaining.
Program Description
Event Details
The library is pleased to offer this in-person presentation with Norm Olsen, retired US Senior Foreign Service Officer, the second of two events offered in collaboration with the 39th Annual Camden Conference.
Cape Elizabeth native Norm Olsen served for 26 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with a total of nine years in Israel and the Gaza Strip. His first tour of duty there, as a Gaza reporting officer and USAID representative, spanned the First Intifada, the Madrid talks, the secret Oslo negotiations, the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, and the return of Yasser Arafat to Palestine. His reporting during that time was recognized by his receipt of a National Human Intelligence Reporting Award from the U.S. intelligence community.
His second tour of duty, as chief of the embassy political section, spanned the Second Intifada, the efforts of Quartet negotiator James Wolfensohn, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the victory of Hamas in U.S.-demanded Palestinian elections, the successful Hamas expulsion of U.S.-backed Fatah militants who were terrorizing Gaza, and the Israel-Lebanon war. He retired as a Senior Foreign Service Officer in 2008 and has remained active in Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
Registration is required for this event.
York Public Library is pleased to present a pairing of programs this January in partnership with the 39th Annual Camden Conference, Today’s Middle East: Power, Politics, & Players, taking place live at the Camden Opera House from February 20 – 22, 2026.
On January 22, Professor Derek Michaud, PhD, Senior Lecturer and Chair of Philosophy, Religious, and Judaic Studies at UMaine will join us remotely for "Perspectives on the Land: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Understandings."
In part II of the series, taking place January 28 in the Community Room, retired US Senior Foreign Service Officer Norm Olsen will speak about his personal experiences in his 34-year service in the Middle East at "Inside the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Reflections from a US Foreign Service Officer."