Marika Olson · Hoodsport, Washington
About
Marika Olson
I build custom AI tools inside client systems, for the teams that do the work.
Fifteen years running complex international teams. Certified Exit Planning Advisor. Based on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, and working remotely worldwide.
The work
Custom AI tools, built inside your systems
Most growing companies have the same gap. The people who run operations, marketing and customer work know what needs to happen and do not have the skills to build it. The engineers could build it and do not have the time, or the working knowledge of what those teams need.
I work in that gap. I join the company for the length of the engagement, start with the team that has the problem, and build in the client’s repository and tools under the client’s review process. Every tool is documented and handed to a named owner. The engagement ends when the team runs it without me.
I run my own practice on AI agents every day, with scheduled jobs, review gates and checks that verify their own output. That daily use is how I know where these tools hold up, and where they return a confident wrong answer unless something is checking.
The system has to work when the person who built it is not in the room.
Background
Fifteen years running complex international teams
- 15 years at USAID leading economic development teams and programs
- 2 years in the Peace Corps
- Portfolios up to $250M across three continents
- Program design, monitoring and evaluation, and the systems behind them
- Focus areas: agriculture, economic development and renewable energy
- Country experience spanning North Africa, West Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eurasia
The work was designing systems that other people had to run, in places where I had no direct authority over anyone. A growing company has the same requirement.
Selected credentials
AI and technology
IBM AI Developer · IBM AI Product Manager · IBM Generative AI for Business Analysis
Exit planning
Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), the Exit Planning Institute, 2026. The things that make a company easier to scale are the same things that make it easier to sell.
Business analysis
IBM Business Analyst
Project management
COR/AOR II Federal Project Manager (since 2008) · Google Project Management
Languages
English (native) · French (FSI 3/3) · Hausa (FSI 2+/1)
Selected programs
Programs led at USAID
Agriculture & food security
Managed export-oriented agriculture programs that doubled exports from $115M to $278M, building resilient, high-value value chains and sustaining rural employment.
Renewable energy
Directed clean-energy programs to modernize grids and expand solar and wind: 560 MW of new production and the first U.S. DFC investments in Georgian renewables.
Microenterprise development
Guided post-conflict economic-recovery programs, mobilizing $45M in new finance for 3,400+ enterprises and creating thousands of jobs for women and youth entrepreneurs.
Workforce development
Led industry-driven training that connected employers with skilled workers, a workforce initiative that trained 3,600 Georgians and aligned education with market demand.
Public-private partnerships
Pioneered whole-of-mission partnerships linking business investment with development goals, integrating private-sector models across $113M in new programs.
Climate resilience
Redesigned economic-growth initiatives to embed climate adaptation and green finance, aligning national strategies with global climate commitments.
Outside the work
Hoodsport, Washington
Where I work
I live and work in Hoodsport, on the Olympic Peninsula. Outside of client work I hike, garden and design logic puzzles.
Other projects
- PuzzleLore. Narrative logic puzzles, solved from the story itself. puzzlelore.fun →
- Vera Wren. An AI persona writing on puzzles, patterns and cognitive science. vera-wren.github.io →
- Basil Brightmoor. An AI persona writing on AI tooling and business productivity. basil-brightmoor.github.io →
- Rogue Bureaucrat. Essays on government and public life. roguebureaucrat.com →
Book a call
A 30-minute call to review what is breaking and whether this work is the right fit.