John Olson

John H. Olson

John H. Olson is a partner in the Northern California offices of Gunderson Dettmer, where he leads the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions practice group.12 He is a specialist in mergers and acquisitions, with broad experience advising sellers, buyers and investors in private and public companies in mergers, stock purchases, asset sales and other strategic transactions.12

Expertise and Notable Transactions

• Particular focus on serving technology industry clients, including enterprise and consumer software, AI, e-commerce, security, fintech, crypto, insurance tech, digital media, semiconductors and hardware, as well as biotech and medical devices12
• Has negotiated transactions across from some of the most prominent serial buyers of founder-led and VC-backed businesses, including Cisco, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Roche, Salesforce.com, Uber, and Walmart12
• Recognized by Lawdragon as one of the 500 leading dealmakers in America in 202312
• Notable transactions include representing KLA-Tencor in its $3.4 billion acquisition of Orbotech, Apigee in its $625 million acquisition by Google, FEI in its $4.2 billion sale to Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Xactly in its $564 million going private transaction with Vista Equity Partners2

Background

• Prior to joining Gunderson Dettmer, practiced in the San Francisco office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and in the New York and Paris offices of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton12
• Graduated from Northwestern University School of Law, Johns Hopkins University (M.A.), and Williams College (B.A.)2
• Admitted to practice in California and New York2

John Olson's extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the technology sector, has made him a recognized leader in the field.12