She is Professor and Acting Chair in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Western Ontario.

Olson has published extensively on clothing and appearance (including cosmetics, jewelry, and hairstyles) in Roman antiquity.

[2] Olson has been awarded several Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grants, including an Insight Development grant (2019–21) for her project, "Roman Jewelry and the Technology of Enchantment," and a Standard Research grant (2008-2011) for her project, "Men, Appearance, and Sexuality in Roman Antiquity".

She has discussed her scholarship in public lectures at the Art Institute of Chicago[3] and the Getty Center,[4] as well as videos[5] and podcasts.

[6][7][8] Olson has also served as a historical consultant for the comic book series, Eternus, created by Andy Serkis and Andrew Levitas.