Matthew Olsen. Photo credit: Diego Radzinschi/ALM

Uber Technologies Inc. has once again turned to an attorney with Capitol Hill credibility to fill out a role on its leadership team, with an announcement Tuesday it has hired Matthew Olsen, former GC of the National Security Agency, as its chief trust and security officer.

The position has been vacant at the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company since November 2017, when Uber fired former CSO Joe Sullivan for his role in covering up a 2016 data breach that impacted 57 million users.

Olsen will now lead Uber's security team. He's part of an ongoing series of hires aimed to boost public faith in the company, including the recent appointment of former associate deputy attorney general Scott Schools as chief ethics and compliance officer.

Unlike Sullivan's title — chief security officer — Olsen will officially be “chief trust and security officer.” According to an email from CLO Tony West to Uber staff announcing Olsen's hire, that's for good reason.

“You'll also notice that we added “Trust” to Matt's title,” wrote West. “As I've said before, earning and maintaining trust is an essential ingredient to our brand proposition, and it's everybody's job.”

“That's particularly true when it comes to handling our riders' and customers' data, and our success in that task is core to our Security team's mission,” he continued. “Given Matt's experience in and passion for strengthening the nexus between trust and security, I know he'll make great contributions to our becoming one of our industry's most trusted brands.”

Most recently, Olsen has served as the president and chief revenue officer at IronNet Cybersecurity, which he co-founded along with Keith Alexander, a retired general and former director of the NSA.

Between 2011 and 2014, under the Obama administration, Olsen was the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, which coordinates international antiterrorism efforts and knowledge sharing across the U.S. government. He previously served as GC of the NSA between 2010 and 2011.

Olsen also sat on the Homeland Security Advisory Council, which supports DHS. But he and three other members resigned in July over the Trump administration's decisions on immigrant family separations at the border, according to a CNN report. 

In his email, West said he has high hopes for Olsen.

“Matt understands how Uber works and he has deep respect for the incredible talent inherent in our Security teams,” he said in his email. “He'll hit the ground running, shaping strategy and policies that will help our teams unlock their innovative potential when it comes to protecting our customers, riders and employees.”

In-House editor Rebekah Mintzer contributed to this report.