Biography
Maureen K. Ohlhausen was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission on
April 4, 2012, to a term that expires in September 2018. Prior to joining the Commission,
Ohlhausen was a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, where she focused on FTC issues,
including privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity. Ohlhausen previously served at the
Commission for 11 years, most recently as Director of the Office of Policy Planning from 2004
to 2008, where she led the FTC’s Internet Access Task Force. She was also Deputy Director of
that office. From 1998 to 2001, Ohlhausen was an attorney advisor for former FTC
Commissioner Orson Swindle, advising him on competition and consumer protection matters.
She started at the FTC General Counsel’s Office in 1997.
Before coming to the FTC, Ohlhausen spent five years at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.
Circuit, serving as a law clerk for Judge David B. Sentelle and as a staff attorney. Ohlhausen
also clerked for Judge Robert Yock of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims from 1991 to 1992.
Ohlhausen graduated with distinction from George Mason University School of Law in 1991 and
graduated with honors from the University of Virginia in 1984.
Ohlhausen was on the adjunct faculty at George Mason University School of Law, where she
taught privacy law and unfair trade practices. She served as a Senior Editor of the Antitrust Law
Journal and a member of the American Bar Association Task Force on Competition and Public
Policy. She has authored a variety of articles on competition law, privacy, and technology
matters.