Patricia Olson (born 1951) is an American graphic designer, painter, feminist artist, and educator whose works are categorized as figurative art.

In an interview she gave in 1980, she reflected on her relationship to feminism: "Right when I graduated from college, I became very interested in the feminist movement and what it meant for me personally.

"The bylaws defined WARM as a feminist organization that aimed to foster communication among professional artists in Minnesota, to promote their development and careers, and to enhance their visibility.

Olson and her colleague Elizabeth Erickson have taught the Women's Art Institute, a summer intensive studio program, since 1999.

The backgrounds of these large-scale pictures are rendered in a deep red, like the Roman frescoes on which they're based, and feature the artist herself along with various props and symbols including skeletons, masks, a ladder, a mirror, and a painting easel.

In 2014, they distilled these themes into seven "über questions" and curated an exhibition (open Feb. 3–March 23, 2014) of 11 artists who had previously participated in the Women’s Art Institute and "whose work examines and illuminates these questions: 2009 Called a "Changemaker" (with Elizabeth Erickson) by Minnesota Women's Press for her work with arts and feminism through WARM and the WAI 2008–2011 Sister Mona Riley Endowed Professor in the Humanities, St. Catherine University 2006 Faculty Research and Scholarly Activities Grant, College of St. Catherine (for mounting the Buoyant Heart exhibition) 2000 Faculty Travel Grant, College of St. Catherine, to present at a conference, "Ritual, Reception, Response: The Villa of the Mysteries Revisited" (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) 2000 Faculty Research Award, College of St. Catherine, support for photography and drawing materials for travel to Pompeii, Italy 1998 Visual Arts Travel and Study Grant, from Jerome, General Mills, and Dayton-Hudson Foundations, for travel to Pompeii