Richard Olsen was born and brought up in Zurich, Switzerland in a family of bankers and physicists. His main interest lay in studying Economics but his family members did not consider it a real science and encouraged him to study Law. Heeding their advice he acquired his Licentiate in Law from the University of Zurich in 1979 and then a year later his Bachelors from the University of Oxford in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In 1980 he obtained his Ph.D. in Law from the University of Zurich. Later, while working at a bank Richard had the idea to found a research company. He founded Olsen Ltd (formerly known as Olsen and Associates) in 1985. The company started to collect tick by tick foreign exchange data and develop a real time information service with forecasts, timing indicators and trading recommendations in graphical format in the pre-Internet age that was first released in 1987. The most sought after service was the so-called 'kitchen' a summary page of the timing indicators, a predecessor of the FX Heatmap.

From Olsen & Associates there evolved several companies; Olsen Ltd, Olsen Financial Technologies (co-founded with Rakhal Dave) and OANDA (co-founded with Michael Stumm). Olsen Ltd today is a research and investment manager based in Zurich, Switzerland. We provide managed accounts and third-party products, investing in currencies as a separate asset class or as an overlay to an existing currency exposure. Specializing in a branch of investing known as “high-frequency finance” where trading decisions are based on detailed observation and analysis of price evolution, we provide as much information as possible to the interested traders; like the Scale of Market Quakes, the FX Heatmap or the FX Signals.

Not only do we invest against the trend and try to stabilize the market, we also follow up on new ideas and constantly challenge our own principles and views.

Transparency: We believe in transparency as a core attitude. We communicate openly (Twitter [1,2], Blog, Book, Papers) and share our ideas with the world. And our products don't have any hidden fees.
Openness: Our door is always open, come and visit us. Also, our products are open to everyone. But not only our doors and products are open, we also listen carefully to new or opposing ideas. By constantly reflecting on our views, we ensure the success of our approach. We also talk openly about our products, visions and ideas.
Visionary: Having visions is an integral part of a company; our visions are manifold and not constrained to the currency market but go way further. If you want to know more, check www.olsenblog.com or read one of our booklets.