Olsen is a native of Minnesota who studied under Walter Gropius at Harvard and established an architecture practice in Berkeley in 1953.

[3] The house is situated on a slope in the North Berkeley Hills near John Hinkel Park.

[3] The structure's main floor was built above ground level to maximize the site's views of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.

[3] The National Park Service described the house's style as follows: "The house's design is specifically the International style popularized in Europe by architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, and Le Corbusier.

The Olsen House displays the geometries, ethos, strict formalism and rigor that embody this utopian style.