Jan Olszewski was 89 years old when he passed away. He served in the youth section of the Home Army during the war and participated in the Warsaw Rising in 1944. In communist times he was an opposition activist and as a lawyer he defended famous dissidents such as Jacek Kuroń and Adam Michnik.
He was prime minister between 1991 and 1992. His government was brought down when it attempted to open the files of the secret police.
He was a member of Parliament twice, led two political parties he himself founded and ran for President in 1995.
President Andrzej Duda tweeted:
Jan Olszewski, lawyer and defended of the opposition in communist times has passed away. He was the PM of the first fully non-communist Polish government. We can call him the PM of a free, independent and sovereign Poland. He served Poland right until the end. We salute his memory.
Odszedł Jan Olszewski. Adwokat – obrońca Opozycji w czasach PRL. Premier pierwszego prawdziwie niekomunistycznego polskiego rządu. Z pewnością można Go nazwać Premierem Wolnej, Niepodległej i Suwerennej Rzeczypospolitej. Do ostatniego tchnienia służył Polsce. Cześć Jego Pamięci!
— Andrzej Duda (@AndrzejDuda) 2019. február 8.
Smutna wiadomość nadeszła z Warszawy: premier Jan Olszewski nie żyje. Odważny obrońca w procesach politycznych, uczestnik Solidarności, dobry człowiek. Niech spoczywa w pokoju.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) 2019. február 8.
Jan Olszewski był osobą krystalicznie uczciwą i wierną swoim poglądom, a jednocześnie ogromnie odważną. Udowadniał swoją niezłomność wielokrotnie – najpierw podczas II WŚ, później okresu PRL oraz w III RP. Rzeczpospolita poniosła dziś niewyobrażalną stratę. Cześć jego pamięci.
— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) 2019. február 8.
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