John Olenik

After 27 years of crime lab experience and four years as a branch lab supervisor, John Olenik retired from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (Ohio BCI). John’s specialty was latent fingerprints, including fingerprint processing, crime scene search, latent comparisons, lab photography, and courtroom testimony. He has attended numerous schools and seminars throughout his career. John is a state certified instructor through the Ohio Peace Officers Training Council, and has instructed at BCI sponsored schools, workshops and physical evidence seminars. His academic experience includes a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Akron.

John’s fingerprint experience and science background has led him to perform his own experimentation and research in the use of cyanoacrylate adhesives (Super Glue) for developing fingerprints. He has developed and published several articles on two frequently used techniques. John has also developed several fluorescent dye staining techniques that are used on cyanoacrylate developed prints. One technique was published in Kodak’s magazine Tech Bits. Other articles were published in the Journal of Forensic Science and in the Journal of Forensic Identification. His techniques now appear in several forensic science textbooks.

In 1992, he started a Super Glue workshop for law enforcement agencies in Ohio to show officers how to properly use the Super Glue fuming techniques. These workshops have been a part of the program at the International Association of Identification conference for the past 15 years. His workshops are now being performed throughout the U.S. and are attended by local, state, and federal agencies including members of the FBI’s evidence response team. He has since performed training in many countries throughout the world. In 1997, he received an award from the Governor of Ohio for developing inexpensive vacuum chambers for fingerprint processing which he built for all of BCI’s state crime labs.

Since his retirement from Ohio BCI, he has developed several commercial products including Print Glo ^TM fluorescent magnetic fingerprint powder, gray nano-flake magnetic fingerprint powder, portable fuming kits, and other products which are sold by several fingerprint supply companies. Some of his products and tips, as well as his workshop schedule can be seen at his web site at www.detectoprint.com.

John is still active in the International Association for Identification (IAI), and has received its distinguished member award. He has served on the editorial board of IAI, acted as chairman of the Innovative and General Techniques Subcommittee, and served on the international membership committee. His other professional affiliations include the Ohio Identification Officers Association (past president), the Canadian Identification Society, and was a member of the British Fingerprint Society and Michigan-Ontario Identification Association.

Because of his success with the Super Glue workshops, John now performs five different workshops: Fingerprint Processing of Difficult Surfaces, Advanced Super Glue (which involves mock crime scene fuming exercises), Alternate Light Source, Dye Staining, and Chemical Processing of Papers.