Born: March 16, 1870, Skåne, Sweden.
Died: October 6, 1958, Chicago, Illinois.
Buried: Riverside Cemetery, Rock Island, Illinois.
Olson’s family emigrated to America in 1875.
After attending Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, he worked for Swedish newspapers, and for a publisher in Chicago. He served as editor of the Augustana Book Concern, 1911–49.
He wrote four original hymns, and translated almost 30 more. He was a member of the Augustana Hymnal Committee, which published its Hymnal and Order of Service in 1925. Many of his translations appeared there, but his translator credits appeared in the index rather on the individual pages.
Olson was also on the Joint Commission on a Common Hymnal, which led to the publication of the Service Book and Hymnal in 1958.
In 1948, the King of Sweden made Olson a knight of the Royal Order of Vasa.