John Anthony Olszewski Jr.[1] (/oʊˈʃɛski/ oh-SHESK-ee; born September 10, 1982), also known by his nickname Johnny O, is an American politician who has served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 2nd congressional district since 2025.

[8][9] In June 2006, Olszewski was nominated by the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee to fill the seat left by the resignation of John S. Arnick, who had been appointed to the Maryland Board of Contract Appeals.

[23][24] In April 2017, the Dundalk Eagle reported that Olszewski was considering a run for Baltimore County Executive, seeking to succeed Kevin Kamenetz, who was term-limited.

[26] He received endorsements from The Baltimore Sun, state delegate Stephen W. Lafferty,[23] the Baltimore-D.C. Building Trades Unions, and former governor Martin O'Malley.

[39] In December 2023, he became the president of the Maryland Association of Counties,[40] during which he criticized and sought to negotiate on Governor Wes Moore's proposal to cut $3.3 billion in state transportation funding.

[53][54] On March 24, Olszewski requested support from the Maryland National Guard to provide humanitarian and emergency management assistance in Baltimore County.

[58] On May 20, Olszewski signed onto a letter expressing concern about the consequences of Hogan's partial reopening and asking for guidance from the administration as they decided how to proceed.

[79] The commission began its work on June 5, 2022,[80] and released its final report on February 17, 2023, which provided several recommended changes for the office, but was not in favor of creating an oversight board of the county inspector general.

[86] In July 2022, the Baltimore County inspector general found that it appeared Cordish was given "preferential treatment" to build an indoor tennis facility when key zoning approvals were given, despite the opposition from some within the permits department.

In April 2024, the Baltimore Brew reported that officials in Olszewski's administration advocated for an investigation into Michael Beichler, the county's former chief of solid waste management who reported the Eagle Transfer Station controversy to the Brew, for entering a county Public Works and Transportation facility after ordinary business hours and leaving the area with a box.

[98] Olszewski was seen as a possible candidate for the 2024 United States Senate election in Maryland after Ben Cardin announced he would not seek re-election,[99] but he declined to run, endorsing Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks instead.

[102] Olszewski was viewed as the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, leading his opponents in fundraising and receiving endorsements from Ruppersberger, state House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, and Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott.

[39] In the general election, Olszewski was viewed as the frontrunner against Klacik, who he sought to associate with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and campaigned on the issues of reproductive freedom and protecting Medicare and Social Security.

[6] During his county executive campaign, Olszewski said he would provide $2 billion toward school renovations, raise teacher salaries by 20 percent, expand tuition-free community college, and creating universal pre-kindergarten.

He said he would fund these policies by scaling back the county's $300 million program to buy laptops and tablets for all students and through economic growth and more efficient tax spending.

[119][120] In January 2020, Olszewski testified in support of the Built to Learn Act, a bill that would allow the Maryland Stadium Authority to issue up to $2.2 billion in bonds to pay for school construction projects.

[126] In February 2022, Olszewski testified in support of a bill that would allow local governments to expand public campaign finance programs to include more elected offices.

[139] During the 2007 legislative session, following AES Corporation proposed building a new liquefied natural gas facility in Dundalk, Maryland, Olszewski introduced a bill that would impose an impact fee on LNG-related development in Baltimore County.

[140] In 2013, Olszewski introduced a bill that would remove subsidies going to facilities that produce black liquor, redirecting it toward wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources.

[146] In November 2021, Olszewski unveiled a planting program that would offer free trees to low-income, densely populated neighborhoods to reduce heat islands in urban parts of the county.

[158] In February 2025, Olszewski participated in protests against the second Trump administration's decision to freeze nearly all foreign aid and shut down the United States Agency for International Development,[159] which he argued would cede ground to countries like China.

[160] During an interview with Jewish Insider in January 2025, Olszewski said that he supported using "all the tools at America's disposal" to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, including maximum pressure sanctions against the country and the use of force as a last resort option.

[161] In January 2025, Olszewski voted against a bill to place sanctions on the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

[175] During the 2021 legislative session, Olszewski urged the Maryland General Assembly to override Governor Larry Hogan's veto of a bill establishing a permanent funding source for the Prescription Drug Affordability Board.

[187] During the 2020 legislative session, Olszewski testified in support of the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act, a bill that would make it illegal for landlords to discriminate against prospective renters based on their lawful source of income.

[203] In January 2025, Olszewski voted against the Laken Riley Act, saying that the bill would "endanger harmless children and divert billions of dollars away from securing the border and efforts to target dangerous criminals".

During the 2011 legislative session, Olszewski introduced an amendment to the Civil Marriage Protection Act that specified what religious programs could refuse providing services to same-sex couples.

[23] In June 2022, Olszewski condemned the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization[215] and later said that Baltimore County officials would not cooperate with attempts to prosecute people who cross state lines to receive an abortion.

[222] In September 2020, Olszewski signed a letter opposing proposals by the Maryland Transit Administration to dramatically cut bus and rail services in the Baltimore region in 2021 following a historic decline in ridership and revenues.

[225] In September 2021, Olszewski accused the Maryland Department of Transportation of neglecting Baltimore County's needs and called for "more sustained support and partnership" from state budgeteers.