The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native was the head coach of the Ohio State University from 1922 to 1946.

[1] After graduating from Wisconsin, he began his coaching career at Bradley University and Ripon College.

In 1922, Olsen followed George Trautman as head coach of the Ohio State University.

Olsen helped initiate the 10-second rule in 1937, which requires teams to advance the ball over the center line within 10 seconds of gaining possession.

In 1939, Olsen spearheaded efforts to create the NCAA postseason national playoffs, now known as the NCAA tournament, one that could compete with the National Invitational Tournament, which started play in 1938 with games hosted at Madison Square Garden in New York.