Acting Director
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Dr. Yngvild Olsen serves as the Acting Director for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). She has a long history of working within the addiction treatment field to expand access to care and enhance quality. She began her career as the Medical Director for the Johns Hopkins Hospital’s outpatient substance use treatment services while a full-time Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She subsequently served as the Deputy Health Officer for Maryland’s Harford County Health Department. She led a modernization of publicly funded substance use treatment services in collaboration with State and local partners. She next served as the Vice President of Clinical Affairs for the Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, then the local addiction authority for Baltimore City. In that position, she played a central role in expanding buprenorphine treatment for opioid addiction in both specialty treatment and general ambulatory medical systems. Dr. Olsen has also served as Medical Consultant to the Maryland Behavioral Health Administration, a clinical expert to the Maryland Addiction Consultation Service at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and an advisor on addiction interventions to the Baltimore City Health Department. From 2011 to 2021, she served as Medical Director for the Institutes for Behavior Resources/REACH Health Services, a comprehensive outpatient substance use disorder treatment program in Baltimore City. She has held numerous senior volunteer leadership positions in the field of addiction medicine, including vice president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, president of the Maryland Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, and president of the Maryland/DC Society of Addiction Medicine. She also has served on the boards of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence-Maryland, Stop Stigma Now, and as a clinical expert to the Providers Clinical Support System (PCSS).
