Jack B. Olson

Jack Olson
United States Ambassador to the Bahamas
In office December 22, 1976 – April 30, 1977
President	Gerald Ford
Preceded by	Seymour Weiss
Succeeded by	William Bernstein Schwartz Jr.
35th and 37th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
In office January 2, 1967 – January 4, 1971
Governor	Warren P. Knowles
Preceded by	Patrick Lucey
Succeeded by	Martin J. Schreiber
In office January 7, 1963 – January 4, 1965
Governor	John W. Reynolds Jr.
Preceded by	Warren P. Knowles
Succeeded by	Patrick Lucey
Personal details
Born	August 29, 1920 Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	July 3, 2003(2003-07-03) (aged 82) Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political party	Republican

Jack Benjamin Olson (August 29, 1920 – July 3, 2003) was an American businessman, diplomat, politician, and Republican from the U.S. state of Wisconsin.

Early life

Olson was born in Kilbourn (now Wisconsin Dells) in Columbia County, Wisconsin on August 29, 1920, to Jane Zimmerman Olson and Grover Olson. He graduated from Wisconsin Dells High School and attended Western Michigan University. Olson married Eleanor Lang of Kalamazoo, Michigan on March 7, 1942; he graduated from Western Michigan University the same year with a Bachelor of Science degree. Olson enlisted in the U.S. Navy after graduating and became a PT boat commander, serving in the North Atlantic during World War II. Upon returning home, Olson owned and operated Dells Boat Tours and Amphibious Duck rides, serving as president of his family's boat company. He was active in the tourism industry, promoting Wisconsin Dells as a resort town. He was a president of the Wisconsin Vacationland Council.

Political career

Olson was a Wisconsin delegate to the 1960, 1964, and 1968 National Republican Conventions, and served as state chairman for the presidential campaign of Richard Nixon. During this time he was also the director of the economic development project for the University of Hawaii. Olson served as the 35th and 37th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, from 1963 to 1965 and from 1967 to 1971. He was the director and official representative on the first Trade Mission to Europe and Vice Chairman of Wisconsin's Outdoor Resources Action Program 200 program.

Olson ran unsuccessfully as the Republican nominee for governor of Wisconsin in 1970. Nixon appointed him to the Air Quality Advisory Board; Gerald Ford later appointed him United States Ambassador to the Bahamas (1976–1977) and to the Citizens' Committee on Environmental Quality and the Committee for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Olson won Western Michigan University's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1966.

He died at age 82 on July 3, 2003, at his home in Wisconsin Dells following a long illness.

External links

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obituary