Mark Douglas Olson was an American politician who served as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from district 16B, first elected in 1992.

He graduated from Becker High School and received carpentry training at Wright Technical Center in Buffalo, Minnesota.

[2] Olson was originally elected to serve House District 19A in 1992, defeating Rep. Bob McEachem 51% to 46%.He won re-election against Bonnie Walters in 1994 60% to 30%, in 1996 against Cliff "Kip" Wold 60% to 40% and against Greg Hansen in 1998 and 2000, 61% to 39% and 63% to 37% respectively.

In earlier sessions, Olson was noted for authoring legislation supporting the development of a personal rapid transit system (PRT).

[5] Along with Michele Bachmann, Mark Olson sponsored The American Heritage in Public Education Act, which encourages schools to teach America's founding principles from original sources.

Olson denied them and no charges were filed, however he attended two counseling sessions with Steve Sviggum, then Republican leader in the House.

[8] He also frequently scored high on the Legislative Evaluation Assembly of Minnesota (LEA) score card which "bases its evaluation on the traditional American principles of constitutionalism, limited government, free enterprise, legal and moral order with justice and individual liberty and dignity.

[10] On November 11, 2006, days after winning re-election, Olson was arrested in Blaine after police were called to his Big Lake home.

After the primary, local delegates again convinced to reassess their endorsement and voted 61-18 on the first ballot to re-endorse Olson over Alison Krueger as a write in candidate.

[16] During Minnesota's 2008 recounts, there were reports of Olson's name being either intentionally or erroneously written into the write-in sections for other races, including the 2008 United States Senate election.