Peder Blicher Olsen (also Blicherolsen) arrived in the United States in July 1801 as consul general and resident minister of Denmark. He was previously the Danish consul in Morocco and had been on the staff of his country’s legation in Berlin. He resided in Philadelphia, staying with the Madisons as their guest on his occasional visits to Washington. Blicher Olsen appointed vice consuls in locales from Massachusetts to Georgia. In poor health, he departed for Denmark on leave of absence in July 1803. He did not return to the United States, and at his request the Danish government recalled him from the post in 1805. Although Gallatin remarked, after first meeting him, that Blicher Olsen “does not appear extremely bright,” Madison noted on the diplomat’s departure that he “leaves this Country under good impressions” (Emil Marquand, Danske Gesandter og Gesandtskabspersonale indtil 1914 [Copenhagen, 1952], 137, 450, 451, 459; Madison, Papers description begins William T. Hutchinson, Robert A. Rutland, J. C. A. Stagg, and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison, Chicago and Charlottesville, 1962–, 33 vols. Sec. of State Ser., 1986–, 9 vols. Pres. Ser., 1984–, 6 vols. Ret. Ser., 2009–, 1 vol. description ends , Sec. of State Ser., 1:452, 489; 2:206n, 400–1; 3:440, 499; 4:206; 5:52, 55, 62, 109–10, 118, 327; 8:349–50; Vol. 34:451n; Vol. 35:13, 163n; TJ to Christian VII, King of Denmark, 6 June 1803, 16 Oct. 1805, in DNA: RG 59, Credences).

offer: with information about Richmond and a letter of introduction to John Page, TJ assisted Blicher Olsen’s preparations for an intended trip into Virginia; see TJ to Blicher Olsen, [21 Jan. 1803], and TJ to Page, 20 Jan., 18 Mch. 1803.