The rapid evolution of electron density and temperature in a laser-produced plasma were measured using collective Thomson scattering (see Figure). Unprecedented picosecond time resolution, enabled by a pulse-front-tilt compensated spectrometer, revealed a transition in the plasma-wave dynamics from an initially cold, collisional state to a quasi-stationary, collisionless state. The hydrogen gas jet was ionized at an intensity near 1014 W/cm2, where the initial electron plasma temperature and density were measured to be 3 eV and 8.4 × 1018 cm–3, respectively. Over the first 18 ps, the plasma temperature increased modestly (16 eV) as the plasma density became fully ionized (1.1 × 1019 cm–3) and then rapidly increased to a statured level of 93 eV over the next 20 ps. During this evolution the plasma transitioned from a nonideal to an ideal plasma. These picosecond electron temperature and density measurements can be applied to laser-plasma devices that require knowledge of the rapidly evolving plasma conditions. Laser-plasma Raman amplifiers require frequency matching between an electromagnetic beat wave and the plasma frequency for efficient energy transfer from a pump laser to the seed, but if the plasma frequency is rapidly evolving, as these experiments show, the amplifier will be detuned and the efficiency will be poor. With measurements of the plasma evolution, the system could be properly tuned to recover efficient energy transfer.