He was raised in Wisconsin and joined the United States Army at age 18 where he served in the Signal Corps and was stationed in post-World War II Japan.
He sponsored a resolution requesting that Fay Vincent, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball at the time, review the case of Shoeless Joe Jackson and his alleged role in the Black Sox Scandal in the hopes of vindicating Jackson.
[4] Olson had a heart attack while shoveling snow and died at Shaw Bathea Hospital on Saturday, January 25, 1992.
[4] David Deets, a physician from Dixon, was appointed to succeed him in the Illinois House and as a candidate in the new 73rd district.
[5] Deets lost by 378 votes to Democratic attorney Pennie Von Bergen Wessels of Sterling, Illinois.