Jerry Olsen has studied birds of prey for 40 years, in the United States, Canada and Australia, and has more than 130 publications on birds of prey including four books. He is a member of the Institute for Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra. In 2002, Jerry, Susan Trost, Michael Wink and Heidi Sauer-Gurth were the first to describe and name the Little Sumba Hawk-owl "Ninox sumbaensis".