And in a heartbreaking twist, Olson was traveling to Los Angeles for an appearance on Bill Maher’s television program “Politically Incorrect.”
Only two days before her death, Olson appeared on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” for what would become her final television interview.
The September 9 broadcast featured Olson alongside liberal commentator Bill Press, the former California Democratic Party chairman and a familiar face from CNN’s “Crossfire.”
Host Peter Slen noted that Olson had recently been named by Washingtonian magazine as one of the 100 most powerful women in Washington.
Rather than deliver a self-important answer about her growing political influence, Olson responded with the wit that had helped turn her into a recognizable television personality.
“I don’t know. I mean, what does it mean to have influence? I don’t know – I get up really early, I go home really late. Does that mean influence? I guess I know people like Bill Press,” she said with a smile.
That personality had made Olson a natural fit for television.
During the final years of her life, she appeared on major programs including “Larry King Live” and Maher’s “Politically Incorrect,” becoming one of the most visible conservative legal commentators of her era.
Her résumé went far beyond television.
Olson had served as chief investigative counsel for the House of Representatives and worked as a Washington attorney before building a national media profile.
Then came September 11.
Olson boarded American Airlines Flight 77 at Washington Dulles International Airport that morning for her trip to California.
Roughly half an hour after takeoff, five al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked the Boeing 757.
The aircraft was ultimately flown into the Pentagon, killing everyone aboard as well as 125 people inside the building.
As Americans marked the 25th anniversary of the attacks, footage of Olson’s final C-SPAN appearance resurfaced.
“25 Years Ago today… Olson was killed on 9/11 when terrorists crashed her plane into Pentagon,” a caption accompanying C-SPAN’s resurfaced footage read.
But Olson’s story contains another extraordinary chapter.
While trapped aboard the hijacked aircraft, she managed to contact her husband, Theodore Olson, who was then serving as solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration.
“To this day, I don’t know how in the world she managed to do it,” Theodore Olson told Fox News in 2021 while recalling the two calls he received that morning.
What Barbara told him provided a terrifying glimpse inside the hijacked aircraft.
“We spoke for a minute or two or three or four minutes. She told me that she had been herded to the back of the plane. She mentioned that they had used knives and box cutters to hijack the plane,” he said, according to “The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11.”
By that point, America was already under attack.
Two hijacked planes had slammed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City.
Yet Barbara Olson reportedly remained remarkably composed while speaking to her husband.
“We then both reassured one another – this plane was still up in the air, the plane was still flying. She was going to come out OK. She said, “I love you.” She sounded very, very calm.”
Theodore immediately passed along information about the hijacking to federal authorities.
He desperately tried to determine where his wife’s plane might be.
“I wanted to find out where the plane was. She reported to me that she could see houses,” he added.
Barbara also told her husband that the hijackers apparently did not realize she had access to a phone.
Then the call ended.
Theodore Olson could do nothing but watch the unfolding catastrophe on television.
“After the second phone call, we kept watching television. Not too long later, we could see over the television screen smoking coming from the Pentagon.”
Then came the realization no husband should ever have to face.
“I knew in my heart that it was her flight.”
Barbara Olson’s prominence in Washington meant Americans quickly recognized her face as reports of the victims began emerging.
“Barbara’s was the first face that went up on television screens to the American people because people knew who Barbara was,” Theodore Olson told Fox.
Perhaps the most devastating detail came from a decision Barbara had made just one day earlier.
She had initially planned to fly to California on September 10.
Instead, she delayed the trip because September 11 was Theodore’s birthday and she wanted to spend time with her husband before leaving Washington.
The couple celebrated together over dinner the evening before the attacks.
Hours later, Barbara boarded Flight 77.
Theodore Olson went on to become one of America’s most prominent attorneys. He died in November 2024 at the age of 84.
Barbara Olson’s life was cut short just as her influence in conservative politics and television was rapidly expanding.
She was a lawyer, commentator, wife and unmistakable presence in Washington — and one of the many Americans whose ordinary plans for September 11 were transformed into tragedy by an act of Islamist terrorism.
A quarter-century later, the resurfacing of her final television appearances is a reminder that the nearly 3,000 people murdered that day were not merely names attached to a historic event.
They had careers, marriages, birthdays, dinners planned and flights to catch.
Barbara Olson happened to be someone millions of Americans already knew.
Her final words to her husband remain the most powerful part of her story.
“I love you.”
