Mary E. Olson

Mary E. Olson (died 13 November 1953) was an American teacher and Methodist missionary active in British Malaya.

She was appointed the principal of the Methodist Girls' School in Penang in place of fellow missionary Clara Martin, who had gone on emergency leave.

Olson left for Penang on 1 August 1903, arriving on 3 October and taking over as principal the week after.

[3] She made an unsuccessful attempt to find qualified women teachers in India who would be able to come to Malaya and teach in the Methodist schools there.

[4] As principal, she oversaw the school's move from its former premises, which comprised two shophouses in Telok Ayer, to a new building on Neil Road.

[4] However, Olson was appointed the principal of the Shellabear Hall, a Methodist hostel for girls in Malacca, in 1937.

In the following year, she opened the first girls' school in Pahang, which was then located within the Hainan Association building in Kuantan.