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Over more than four decades, Olson has created thousands of editorial drawings—over 5,300 cartoons—that respond to political events, public policy debates, and life in the Red River Valley. His work has become a recognizable feature of the newspaper’s editorial section and a visual chronicle of regional history. �
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Olson lives in Moorhead, Minnesota, and has been active in the Fargo-Moorhead cultural community. Beyond his newspaper work, he has also produced fine art including paintings, woodcuts, watercolors, and prints, often exploring subjects such as trains, agriculture, and rural landscapes—subjects closely tied to the northern plains environment. �
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Earlier in his career he also worked as a sign painter and freelance artist, and he has periodically exhibited his fine art in regional venues, including shows in the Fargo-Moorhead area such as the Rourke Art Museum. �
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Olson is also active in local Norwegian-American cultural organizations and is affiliated with Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead and the Sons of Norway in Fargo, where he has taught Norwegian language classes. �
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His editorial cartoons, created consistently since the mid-1980s, form one of the longest-running bodies of political illustration in the region. In recent years Olson has begun arranging for the preservation of his archive of thousands of cartoons documenting over forty years of regional and national news events. �
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Alongside his newspaper career, Olson has maintained a parallel practice as a fine artist, producing paintings such as The Plow That Broke the Prairie, which reflect the agricultural landscapes and industrial forces that shaped the northern plains.
