"[1] Bolen first discovered that he had that talent when he raced other children during an Easter egg hunt during his childhood and found that he was faster.

[3] Before serving for two years in the Army Air Force in WWII,[4] he attended Southern University in New Orleans; after his service, he was recruited by CU Boulder track and field coach Frank Potts.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon appointed him ambassador to Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana simultaneously, while keeping residence in Gaborone.

In 1977, the German-speaking Bolen was appointed by President Jimmy Carter and confirmed as US Ambassador to the German Democratic Republic.

As an ambassador to East Germany, Bolen helped to lay the groundwork for the destruction of the Berlin Wall.