Benjamin Olarsch

Ben joins Princeton after serving as a Constituent Services and Outreach Representative for Congressman Andy Kim where he organized outreach events to connect communities in New Jersey to government resources and advocated on behalf of constituents to federal agencies on matters pertaining to immigration, housing, and education. Ben grew up in Marlboro, New Jersey, then attended the University of Delaware where he studied international relations concentrating on the Middle East. After interning for U.S. Senator Chris Coons in Delaware, Ben served as Deputy Director for the Ocean County Democrats where he organized campaigns for local office. Ben has volunteered on several political campaigns and for the Monmouth County Community Emergency Response Team to help his community in the event of a natural disaster. This summer, Ben was a Housing Fellow for the Center for Public Enterprise, a nonprofit think tank that offers research and strategy for public officials to expand the capacity of government in the housing and energy finance sectors. He researched the impacts of budget cuts on federally subsidized multifamily housing, cost factors influencing affordable development, and state regulation of public housing authorities. Ben collaborated with municipal housing finance agencies to increase their mixed-income housing supply by modeling how innovative public finance products could facilitate affordable housing in challenging areas.