[1][2][3][4] In 1864, during the Civil War, Olds joined the Union Army, enlisting in Company A of the 174th Ohio Infantry Regiment, which fought primarily in Tennessee and North Carolina.
He moved to Columbia City, Indiana and began a private practice in partnership with a local lawyer and state senator named A.Y.
In 1873, a recent graduate of Wabash College named Thomas R. Marshall read law under Olds's guidance and tutelage at his Columbia City office.
[1][2][3][7] A member of the Republican Party, Olds served in the Indiana Senate from 1877 to 1879, representing Whitley and Kosciusko counties.
Due to financial difficulties, Olds resigned from the court in 1893 to accept a high-paying position at a law firm in Hammond (near Chicago) in partnership with Charles Fremont Griffin, former Indiana Secretary of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
They had one child, a son named Lee M. Olds, who moved to San Francisco, California and served in the Spanish-American War as Major of the 161st Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment.