Marsha McGraw Olive, Ph.D., is a scholar and practitioner of Russian and Eurasian affairs who served for three decades in the Europe and Central Asia region of the World Bank, including as Acting Director in Moscow. As Country Manager based in Tajikistan, she managed a $1 billion portfolio that included assessment studies of the Rogun Hydropower Project and the CASA-1000 transmission project. During her external service as senior vice president of the Eurasia Foundation, she managed a $100 million grant program in twelve countries of the former Soviet Union. In 2022, Dr. Olive received a George F. Kennan Fellowship to develop a new U.S. regional strategy in Central Asia. In March 2024, she moderated the B5+1 (business) Forum in Almaty, the first public-private dialogue ever held between the United States and Central Asian states.
Dr. Olive is a Global fellow at the Wilson Center and an Advisory Board member of the Caspian Policy Center and Eurasia Foundation. She is the author of monographs on Russia and Central Asia and provides guest lectures on the region for think tanks, U.S. government agencies, and major universities. Her most recent book is Owning the City: Property Rights in Authoritarian Regimes (Agenda Publishing, 2022).
