The John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies was created in 1989 to institutionalize and expand the national security studies program at what was then the Center for International Affairs. The central purposes of the Olin Institute are to conduct basic policy-relevant research on crucial topics of national security and strategy and to educate and prepare scholars in strategy and national security for positions in colleges, universities, research institutes, and government.The institute awards pre- and postdoctoral fellowships, funds research by individual scholars, supports teaching in national security affairs at Harvard University, undertakes research projects on important topics, and publishes working papers.

The Olin Institute organizes conferences and seminars, such as the National Security Studies Group and the Future of War Seminar, to encourage intellectual interaction among scholars and experts. Each year the Olin Institute holds a conference on strategy and national security, which brings together experts on national security from academia, the private sector, and government, many of them former Olin Fellows, to discuss research and critical policy issues concerning strategy and national security.

The institute’s director, Stephen Peter Rosen, is the Beton Michael Kaneb Professor of National Security and Military Affairs.