AFTER years working with law enforcement special operations and U.S. Marines, one man decided to use his investigative skills to help catch cheaters.
John Olsen is a New York-based private investigator who has helped countless people expose their partner’s affairs.
The 36-year-old began working with the security and investigations firm Salient Strategic two years ago.
He spoke exclusively to Fabulous about what this specialist work entails.
“My team and I specialise in three things: Covert surveillance, criminal defence, and discreet crisis management investigations,” John explains.
The investigative expert detailed how catching cheaters became a popular line of work for his team.
“Infidelity, by its very nature, requires a high level of discretion and surveillance tradecraft, so it’s a natural extension of the services we already offer,” he says.
“You could say we didn’t choose infidelity— infidelity chose us.”
According to John, context is key when it comes to investigating potential cheaters.
“It’s important to get a better understanding of the circumstances,” he says.
“We’re going to want to know what is going on, and how they came to become suspicious.
“We’ve built our brand around discretion and confidentiality, and our clients know they can trust us.
“Once we understand the totality of the circumstances, we can move forward with the investigation.”
And those investigations often involve “creative and unexpected” techniques.
“Brilliance in the basics is key,” John explains.
“If my training and experiences have taught me anything, it is that we always need to be innovating.”
He shared how “run of the mill surveillance” such as sitting in a car on a stakeout “is getting old fast.”
According to John, clients who suspect their partner of cheating often notice at least two of the following themes:
Generally the subject will be defensive over their phone, oftentimes they will not allow the partner access to their phone or they may become upset if their partner has it.
They might lean in to watch the screen if the partner has access or avoid leaving the phone behind, even when showering.
Unexplained delays coming home from work and discrepancies with scheduling gaps— especially when they become a pattern— are a big red flag.
Female clients often find hair of a different color in the car of their partner, and you’d be amazed how often another person’s underwear end up in the shirt laundry.
Often, cheaters abruptly change their self care or appearance routines.
They may change hairstyles, start wearing cologne or perfume when they hadn’t previously, or incorporate “sexier” articles of clothing you didn’t know they had.
“People have access to all the TV shows and know what to look for, so we always need to be two steps ahead,” the investigator says.
“Our clients come to us because we are known for utilising ingenious strategies to get the results they need.”
While the company still “sits on targets for long hours” they have incorporated some other out-of-the-box measures to catch cheaters.
“We’ve had situations where we placed an investigator on a flight sitting behind the subject, we’ve used drones, we’ve followed subjects on hikes,” John recalls.
He highlighted the importance of discretion from the outset when it comes to tailing people.
I’d say that the most shocking cases are cases where family is involved, or where the subject is so brazen in their dirty deeds.
John Olsen
“If some PI is going to get caught on the first day because they lack imagination or didn’t have the skill set to de-risk a plan, all the hours you’re paying them for will be worthless,” John points out.
“Unfortunately, this is often what people get when they try to save a buck, or use a friend instead.
“As a boutique firm, we take a limited amount of work at any given time so that we can provide a great deal of focus on our clients’ needs.
“When we take a case, we go all-in.”
And while confidentiality agreements prevent John from speaking too much about his cases, he says he’s “seen it all.”
“Without giving away private information, I’d say that the most shocking cases are cases where family is involved, or where the subject is so brazen in their dirty deeds,” he explains.
“Affairs with familiar people are some of the hardest to prove, because the subject often has a valid reason to be around them.”
He revealed that these affairs are often the ones that go unnoticed by partners.
“Many people have this exact thing going on right under their noses, and discount it because they know the person in question,” John says.
“It is for this reason we approach every investigation with a healthy suspicion for anyone the subject comes into contact with on a daily basis.”
