Ko Whakapiki te maunga, Ko Hokianga te moana, Ko Ngāpuhi te iwi, ko Te Ihutai te hapū, ko Pikipāria te marae.
Kaiārahi Māori, Faculty of Law
Faculty liaison for tauira Māori, Te Rōpū Whai Pūtake and Te Huka Mātauraka (the Māori Centre)
BA/LLB (Hons) (Otago), LLM (Yale)
Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand (2017)
Contact
Email yasmin.olsen@otago.ac.nz
Office 7th Floor – 7C26
Teaching
Yasmin’s primary teaching is in LAWS 101 The Legal System, LAWS 332 Criminal Justice and the LAWS 200 Wānaka programme, which relates to tikanga and te reo Māori and the law. Through the Wānaka programme Yasmin teaches in LAWS 201 Criminal Law and LAWS 202 Contract Law.
Research interests
Criminal law, criminal justice, youth justice, tikanga Māori and the law
Background
After graduating from the University of Otago in 2015, Yasmin worked as a Judge’s Clerk for Justice Matthew Palmer in the Auckland High Court. Between 2018 and 2023, Yasmin was a Crown Prosecutor at the Office of the Crown Solicitor for Manukau (Kayes Fletcher Walker). Yasmin has appeared as lead counsel for the Crown in trials in the District Court, and as junior counsel in homicide trials in the High Court and appeals before the Court of Appeal. Yasmin also developed specialised experience in Youth Court matters.
Yasmin joined the Faculty of Law in 2024 upon returning to New Zealand from the United States where she completed a Master of Laws at Yale Law School as a Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, William Georgetti and PEO International Peace scholar, and with support from the Borrin Foundation and the Yvonne Smith Charitable Trust. Her studies focused on criminal law and legal theory, and interdisciplinary perspectives on criminal justice, as well as comparative approaches to Indigenous peoples’ rights / legal issues. Those issues, as well as issues relating to youth justice, remain her primary research interests at the University of Otago.
In 2022 Yasmin completed a full-immersion course in te reo Māori at Te Wānanga o Raukawa (Heke Reo Māori). That year, she was also Co-Editor-in-Chief of Te Aho Kawe Kaupapa Ture a Ngā Wāhine | the New Zealand Women’s Law Journal.
Publications
Olsen, Y. (2026). Duties to the court. In M. S. R. Palmer (Ed.), Professional responsibility in New Zealand. (2nd ed.) (pp. 77-98). Wellington, New Zealand: LexisNexis NZ. Chapter in Book - Research
Olsen, Y. (2025). 100 years of youth justice in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Law Journal, (11), 373-377. Journal - Research Article
Olsen, Y., Chapman, I., Evans, K., Harrison, L., & Dougherty, W. (2025, August). The practical implications of the YSO changes: Cross-agency perspectives and guidance on what to expect once the changes commence [Panel]. Invited presentation at the Youth Court Judges' Update, Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. [Invited Presentation]. Other Research Output
Olsen, Y. (2025, August). Navigating the Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill: Making the YSO declaration and related orders [Part one] & The new MSA order and other important features of the regime [Part two]. Invited presentation at the Youth Court Judges' Update, Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. [Invited Presentation]. Other Research Output
Olsen, Y. (2025). Lawyering for legal pluralism. Legalities, 5(1), 34-38. doi: 10.3366/legal.2025.0091 Journal - Research Article