Richard Olcott

Richard M. Olcott is a partner in the firm of Polshek Partnership, and co-designer of the Clinton Library.

"We began meeting with the president for as much as two hours at a time," remembered Olcott as construction advanced. "He is very interested in this project -- he's all over it. He's very astute, he knows what he wants, and he makes decisions quickly." Olcott showed Bill Clinton a number of possible configurations for his library, but the one that caught his attention emulated a bridge jutting out over the Arkansas River. "President Clinton said, 'It's a bridge to the 21st century,' and several aides in the room groaned," remembered Olcott later. "And he said, 'No one ever liked my bridge to the future -- except me and the voters.'"

Olcott received his master's degree in architecture from Cornell University. Before college Olcott attended the Princeton Day School. He is the grandson of Sherley W. Morgan, dean emeritus of the Princeton University School of Architecture, and Alfred V.S. Olcott, president of New York's Hudson River Day Line.

Olcott has been married to architect Andrea L. Simitch since 1983.

References

• Fred A. Bernstein, "Archive Architecture: Setting the Spin in Stone," New York Times, June 10, 2004.
• James Herrera, "Architects in Sync," Town and Country, (June 2001): 93-96.

External links

• Brief remarks by Olcott at Clinton Library dedication ceremony