Dave Olander, the former chief tax counsel to former Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), has become a partner at Capitol Counsel.
It is a significant addition to the mid-size firm, which has carved out a niche for itself among K Street’s top earners.
Olander most recently led the House Ways & Means Committee’s effort to overhaul the tax code under Chairman Camp. Now, he’s joining a firm led in part by a former boss on Capitol Hill.
“As ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, I hired Dave Olander to join the minority tax staff,” said former Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.), who retired from Congress in 2008 and is now a partner at the firm. “He proved to be an outstanding asset to me and my successor, Dave Camp, who promoted Dave to chief tax counsel.”
Olander’s tax background will prove helpful as Congress attempts to build upon last year’s tax reform draft. Capitol Counsel represents a slew of clients in the financial services, healthcare, and communications sectors.
In disclosure reports, the firm says it lobbied on various tax-related issues for dozens of clients so far this year, including Amgen, Beam-Suntory, Chevron, Expedia, General Electric, Oracle, Wal-Mart, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). It earned $4.3 million in lobbying revenue during the first three months of this year and nearly $18 million in all of 2014.
“Having watched from the Hill the remarkable success of Capitol Counsel since its founding, I know first-hand how much Members and staff respect the firm and appreciate the way it engages constructively with policymakers on behalf of its clients,” Olander said in a statement.
“Today’s tax policy landscape presents unique challenges and opportunities for stakeholders, and I am looking forward to helping Capitol Counsel’s impressive roster of clients meet those challenges and seize those opportunities,” he said.
His congressional experience largely revolved around tax policy, including working for former Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.), and Olander also has private sector experience, having worked at law firm Baker Hostetler.