Alan Olsen is a Director of SPRE. He is a researcher, strategist and policy adviser on international education, transnational education and international student programs, based in Hong Kong. He has worked in international education in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong and has published extensively, with 40 publications listed on Australia's Database of Research on International Education http://www.idp.com/research/database_of_research.aspx.

As a consultant, Alan provides advice on international strategy to universities in Australia, and to other education entities such as Australian Education International, the Group of 8, the Australian Technology Network of Universities, the Australian Universities International Directors’ Forum, the Victorian International Director's Committee, TAFE Directors Australia, the European Consortium of Innovative Universities and Hobsons Australia.

In 2009 he was author of The Nature of International Education in Australian Universities and its Benefits with Tim Dodd for Universities Australia. The report documents important non-economic benefits of international education – to the Australian higher education system, its students and graduates, and to the wider Australian community. The benefits of international education go far beyond the immediate economic contributions made by students who come to Australian universities to undertake their studies. The report shows how international education enriches and changes Australian education and deepens relationships between nations. These social and cultural benefits are clearly of paramount importance in a world where international relations are undergoing rapid changes, and where Australia’s future depends critically on its ability to establish diverse and productive international connections. The report is available from Universities Australia.

In 2009 he was author of The Gaokao: Research on China’s National College Entrance Examination with Cathryn Hlavka for Australian Education International. The report aims to explain to Australian international education providers, peak bodies and government, how China’s National College Entrance Examination system works in practice and identifies opportunities to streamline the admission of high performing undergraduate students from China. The report is available to subscribers to the AEI Market Information Package at Australian Education International.

In 2008 he was the author of

• 3+3+4: The Reform of Hong Kong’s Education System (and what it means to Australia) for Australian Education International, available to subscribers to the AEI Market Information Package at Australian Education International.

• Chapter 1 Impacts and Outcomes for Students in Outcomes and Impacts of International Education: From International Student to Australian Graduate, the Journey of a Lifetime, edited by Melissa Banks and Alan Olsen and published by IDP Education Pty Ltd. In the Group of 8 Australian universities, 195,694 students in 2007 passed 91.8% of what they attempted. The 46,812 international students on campus in Australia passed 91.6% of what they attempted, and did just as well as the 140,903 Australian students, who passed 92.0%.

• Staying the Course: Retention and Attrition in Australian Universities. In this study of 485,983 students in 32 Australian universities in 2006, 89.5% of students stayed the course, either completing the course in 2006 or continuing to 2007. 10.5% dropped out.

• 2008 Research Agenda: Australian Universities International Directors’ Forum, with Rebecca Wright, the October 2008 paper on benchmarking of international operations of Australia’s universities.

• Outgoing International Mobility of Australian University Students 2007. Nearly 6% of undergraduates in 37 participating Australian universities undertake an international study experience by the time they complete their degrees.

In 2008 he was also the author of International Mobility of Australian University Students: 2005, Journal of Studies in International Education,  Vol. 12, No. 4, 364-376 (2008) http://jsi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/12/4/364

In 2007 he was joint author with Melissa Banks and David Pearce of Global Student Mobility: An Australian Perspective Five Years On, the third study by IDP Education P/L to forecast demand for international higher education.

In 2007 he was also joint author of Ten Years On: Satisfying Hong Kong's Demand for Higher Education (see What’s New), the paper by Alan Olsen of SPRE Limited and Peter Burges of IDP Education P/L published in Hong Kong on 30 June 2007, ten years after the handover of Hong Kong to China. Ten years into Chinese rule, ten years since the last British Governor sailed out of Hong Kong, it is still difficult to get into university in Hong Kong.

In 2006 he was joint author of Models and Types: Guidelines for Good Practice in Transnational Education published online by the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, London, and The Comparative Academic Performance of International Students in Australia for the Winter 2006 edition of International Higher Education, showing that there is no difference between the academic performance of international students and their Australian counterparts.

In 2002 he was author of e-Learning in Asia: Supply and Demand, published online by The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education.

In 2001, he was author of a chapter Online Education in the Context of Globalisation in Transnational Education: Australia Online, a research study on the critical factors for success in online delivery of higher education.

In 2000, he was joint author of Transnational Education: Providers, Partners and Policy on the challenges for Australian institutions offering courses offshore.

He is joint author of chapters in Peter Scott's Higher Education Reformed (Falmer Press, London, 2000) and Keith Harry's Higher Education through Open and Distance Learning (Routledge, London, 1999).

He is joint editor of International Education: The Professional Edge (1999), and Outcomes of International Education: Research Findings (1998), two series of commissioned research papers.

His earlier publications as joint author include:

• Becoming Internationally Competitive: The Value of International Experience for Australian Students (1999)
• Internationalisation and Tertiary Education in New Zealand (1998)
• Comparative Costs of Higher Education Courses for International Students in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada and the US (1997)
• Skills Recognition Directory for Professional Occupations in ASEAN and Australia (1996)
• Internationalisation and Higher Education: Goals and Strategies (1996).

He commissioned and edited the 1995 IDP Education Australia study International Education: Australia's Potential Demand and Supply.

Alan has a Bachelor of Arts degree with First Class Honours in Philosophy from The University of Sydney and a Graduate Diploma in Finance from University of Technology, Sydney.