In 1921 he was graduated from Cornell University, where he had studied mechanical engineering,[3] and where he had joined Kappa Sigma fraternity like his father.
[2] Outside of his professional and political life, he won a pro-am golf tournament with Arnold Palmer at The Greenbrier in 1954, beginning a 40-year friendship.
[2] Later, when Olin donated $5 million to build a public golf course in Alton, Palmer agreed to design it.
He was a significant donor to the Washington University School of Medicine, whose first residence hall is named after him, its construction anchored by a $500,000 gift,[3] and also home to the Ann Whitney Olin Women's Building, named after his wife.
At least seven professorships, fellowships, and scholarships and the university were funded through the Spencer T. & Ann W. Olin Foundation, which was established in 1958.