Olson has lived in Boone his entire life. He and his wife Sue have two children, a three-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son. Olson holds Bachelor and Master degrees from ISU. He currently works at ISU and is responsible for delivering courses to off-campus students via digital video disc and the World Wide Web. In his free time he coaches his son’s little league baseball team, and enjoys reading about architecture, restoring old houses, and vacationing with his family. He and his family are members of the Boone First United Methodist Church.