Frank Olson

Frank Olson is documented in the ColdCaseIndex database as a suspicious-death case in New York City, New York. The events are dated to November 28, 1953. The victim is recorded as 43 years old and male. The last known information on record places the case at November 28, 1953, Hotel Statler, New York City.

Within the ColdCaseIndex taxonomy, Frank Olson is filed under Suspicious Death with a status of Unsolved. A suspicious-death entry documents a death, sometimes officially ruled accidental or natural, that remains contested. The record is cross-referenced under the themes suspicious death, CIA, MKUltra, historical, New York, conspiracy, unsolved, which connect it to related cases across the database.

As of the most recent information compiled here, no arrest has been publicly recorded in the Frank Olson case, and it remains open and unsolved. Cases like this can be reactivated at any time — advances in DNA analysis, forensic genetic genealogy, and renewed public attention have resolved cases that lay dormant for decades.

Primary jurisdiction for the Frank Olson case rests with local law enforcement in New York City, supported by New York state investigative authorities. The case sits within a wider national picture: the U.S. homicide clearance rate has fallen from roughly 90% in the 1960s to about 54% today, and more than 346,000 homicides recorded since 1965 remain unsolved. ColdCaseIndex documents individual cases like this one to keep them publicly visible and searchable.