# Mike Olsen

> Mike Olsen is the Scottsdale-based founder and CEO of Proctorio, the remote assessment company launched in 2013. A former Arizona State University research software engineer, he has built the business without venture capital while publicly defending its approach to exam integrity, privacy and reliability. His career includes institutional partnerships, international expansion and prominent disputes over the treatment of students and critics.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Proctorio
- **Organizations:** Proctorio, Arizona State University
- **Education:** Arizona State University
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Proctorio, launched in 2013., Built Proctorio without venture capital, according to his 2025 company article., Reported reaching Proctorio’s 50 millionth exam in 2021.

## Career timeline

- **Before Proctorio** — Worked as a lead research software engineer at Arizona State University.
- **2013** — Proctorio launched; Olsen identifies this as the company’s founding year.
- **2017** — Discussed Proctorio’s University of Minnesota partnership and learning-management-system integrations in an interview.
- **2018** — Proctorio expanded into European offices, according to its company history.
- **2020** — Published portions of a student’s support conversation on Reddit, later removed the material and apologized.
- **2021** — Reported the company’s 50 millionth exam, 120 employees and three offices.
- **2023** — Marked Proctorio’s tenth anniversary with a retrospective about its early clients and pallet desks.
- **2025** — Published an article about Proctorio’s multi-cloud architecture and reliability.

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Proctorio, launched in 2013.
- Built Proctorio without venture capital, according to his 2025 company article.
- Reported reaching Proctorio’s 50 millionth exam in 2021.
- Led a business with European offices and international institutional partnerships.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Whiteboard Advisors featured his conversation with Matt Tower about Proctorio’s origins and changes in academic integrity.
- **2025-11** — Proctorio’s lawsuit against educator Ian Linkletter ended with a consent dismissal; an injunction restricting access to training resources remained.
- **2025-10** — Published “Why Multi-Cloud Architecture Isn’t Optional,” describing Proctorio’s infrastructure across 26 locations and multiple cloud providers.

## Links

- Website: https://proctorio.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artfulhacker
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/artfulhacker
- GitHub: https://github.com/artfulhacker

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/mike-olsen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22