Paul Olsen was the father of Nicholas Olsen and the ex-boyfriend of assailant Sophie Gerard.
History[]
Paul was once involved with Sophie Gerard, with whom he had a son though the relationship broke down due to clashes and difference of opinion. Both were under the belief that they were right in their methods of raising their child. He later got full custody of Nicholas when the couple ended the relationship. However, when he learned that Sophie was planning on taking Nicholas to China on a trip, Paul became concerned that Sophie was going to take his son away from him forever. As a result, he hired a career criminal named Keith Bradman to kidnap Nicholas, using one of Sophie's credit cards in order to frame her.
However, things did not go exactly as planned, and Nicholas died along with Bradman in a car crash during a chase when the police tracked them both down. While going to see Nicholas in the morgue, he finds Sophie already there, and he blames her for Nicholas' death. Snapping, she steals an officer's gun and holds him, Benson, Marlowe, and Warner hostage. Eventually, Benson and Warner are released, while Marlowe makes attempts to talk Sophie down.
Eventually, Stabler learns from Cragen that Paul is the one who hired Bradman and framed Sophie for it by using one of her credit cards. Breaking into the room, Stabler reveals the truth to everyone, but this only incites Sophie to point the gun at Paul, angrily blaming him for Nicholas' death. Seeing that his actions have put Sophie over the edge, Paul finally breaks down into tears and confessed to having hired Bradman, stating that he wanted to take Nicholas away from her. He apologizes to her and admits that he didn't intend to have Nicholas killed. Sophie does not forgive him and shoots at him but the bullet hits Warner in the lung instead but she survived.
After Marlowe convinces Sophie to drop the gun, Stabler escorts Paul out of the morgue, where he is arrested by the officers. (SVU: "Shattered")