Bioscience Division Leader
Los Alamos National Laboratory
USA

And

Executive Director 
The National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
USA

Dr. Olivares serves Division Leader for the Bioscience Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In this position, he provides strategic, technical and operational management for all activities within the Division. Major focus areas for the 150 staff within the Division include a long-standing effort in biosecurity, biosurveillance, and public health security. New areas of growth include bioenergy and biome science. He is the current Executive Director of the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts, a consortium of 40 institutions recently funded by DOE-EERE Office of Biomass Programs.

Previously he served in several program and technical management positions at the Laboratory, including Biofuels Program Manager and acting Division Leader for Chemistry. In these positions he was responsible for developing strategic direction for science programs, operations, and leading specific program development efforts. Dr. Olivares has extensive experience with private industry and serves as consultant for several small companies and government agencies. One of his passions is technology commercialization. 

Dr. Olivares is an adjunct member of The Danforth Plant Science Center, a preeminent non-profit institution dedicated to plant research for food and energy, in St. Louis. He is also a partner of the consulting firm Biologic Energy Partners, LLC, and co-Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Algal Research (Elsevier Publishers).

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Wilkes College, and his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Iowa State University. His research focus has been primarily in instrumentation for mass spectrometry and biological and chemical sensor development for national security and health related applications.