David E. Olson

David E. Olson is an American chemist and neuroscientist. He is a professor of chemistry, biochemistry and molecular medicine at the University of California, Davis, and is the founding director of the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics.

Olson is best known for his work investigating neuroplasticity promoting compounds, especially the potential of psychedelic drugs, including ketamine and serotonergic psychedelics, to alter brain structure and function. Olson also coined a term to refer to small molecules that are fast acting, durable neuroplasticity promoting compounds: psychoplastogens. Psychoplastogens are being developed to treat a wide variety of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, including depression, PTSD, and substance use disorders, among many others. He researched non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens, which decouple therapeutic neuroplasticity from hallucinogenic effects. Key examples of these silent plastogens developed by his team include Zalsupindole and Tabernanthalog.

Early life Olson received his B.S. from Union College in 2006 with a major in chemistry and a minor in biology.

He then worked briefly at Albany Molecular Research Inc. before completing a Ph.D. in chemistry at Stanford University in 2011, where he worked in the laboratory of Justin Du Bois, developing a variety of methods for synthesizing nitrogen-containing compounds.

Olson undertook postdoctoral research in neuroscience at the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard where he focused on the therapeutic potential of HDAC inhibitors.

Career In 2015 Olson started his independent career at the University of California, Davis, with a joint appointment in the department of chemistry (college of letters and science) and the department of biochemistry and molecular medicine (school of medicine). Olson was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2021 and full professor in 2024. In 2019, Olson co-founded Delix Therapeutics—a biotech company focused on developing novel neuroplasticity-promoting therapeutics for central nervous system diseases (CNS). Olson served as the company's chief scientific officer until 2021, when he transitioned to the roles of chief innovation officer and head of the scientific advisory board. As of July 1, 2026 Olson is the Editor-in-Chief of ACS Chemical Neuroscience.

Awards

2023 Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences (MINS) Rising Star Award 2023 UC Davis Chancellor's Fellow 2022 Sacramento Business Journal's 40 Under 40 2021 Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award 2021 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar 2021 Life Young Investigator Award 2020 Jordi Folch-Pi Award from the American Society for Neurochemistry

Other activities Currently, he serves on the editorial advisory boards of the journals ACS Chemical Neuroscience and ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science.

Published works Olson has published numerous scientific publications. Several of his key contributions to the field are cited below: