Yasmin Olsen

Ko Whakapiki te maunga, Ko Hokianga te moana, Ko Ngāpuhi te iwi, ko Te Ihutai te hapū, ko Pikipāria te marae.

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

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.

In 2024, Yasmin 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.

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.