Prof. Waldemar Lech Olszewski is a Polish lymphologist. His main area of study is the human lymphatic system. Clinical and research interests comprise vascular surgery, transplantation, physiology and surgery of the lymphatic system and immunology. He discovered fundamental processes in human tissues connected with function of the lymphatic system. He has published around 600 publications, seven scientific books and is a member of numerous medical bodies.
Early life
Olszewski was born in 1931 in Piastow/Warsaw, Poland into a family of landowners, his father was a linguist and a banking specialist. He received his General Certificate of Education in 1948 in Warsaw and undertook university studies, first in the Faculty of Law, Warsaw University from 1948 to 1950 and then in the Faculty of Medicine at Warsaw University. Graduating in 1954, Olszewski passed the Board in Surgery exams in 1962 and received his PhD in 1962 and D.Science in 1968. Since 1970 Olszewski has been an associate professor at the Department of Surgery, the Medical Academy, and the Medical Research Center at Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. In 1978 he was made a full professor at the same centers, and chairman of the Clinical Department of Surgery, Ministry of Internal Affaires/Polish Academy of Science Hospital, Warsaw. At present Olszewski is at the Medical Research Center, Polish Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Internal Affaires Clinical Hospital, Warsaw, Poland. He is the father of one daughter.
Research
Olszewski received postgraduate training and carried out research studies at Hammersmith Hospital, London from 1962 to 1963, then at Harvard Medical School in Boston, United States of America, from 1968 to 1970. He worked at City Hospital, Warsaw, and then Dept. of Surgery, Medical Academy, and Medical Research Center, Warsaw as head of Dept. of Surgical Research & Transplantation and since 1997 as Chief of Clinical Department of Surgery, Ministry of Internal Affaires/Polish Academy of Sciences Hospital, Warsaw. Other professional positions include Visiting Professor at Radiumhospitalet, Oslo,, St. Bartholomew's Medical School, London, Research OfficerWorld Health Organization, Madras-Pondicherry-Benares, India.
Served as President of European Society for Surgical Research in 1977-78
Main scientific contributions include designing and introducing into clinical practice the surgical lympho-venous shunts, discovery of spontaneous rhythmic lymphatic contractility in humans, proving that bacterial factor is responsible for development of human limb lymphedema, introducing low-dose, long-term penicillin administration for prevention of chronic dermatitis and lymphangitis in Asian countries, detecting the phenomenon of non-specific elimination of cell grafts, preservation of tissues for transplantation in dehydrating sodium chloride.
