Olsson stu­died or­gan in Väster­göt­land; at­tend­ed Fjell­stedt’s Mis­sion In­sti­tute in Upp­sa­la; the Miss­ion In­sti­tute in Leip­zig, Ger­ma­ny; and Upp­sa­la Un­i­ver­si­ty. Or­dained in 1863, he served in Karl­stad for six years, then em­i­grat­ed to Amer­i­ca in 1869. He lived in the Smok­ey Hill Ri­ver val­ley of Mc­Pher­son Coun­ty, Kan­sas, pas­tored in Linds­borg, and for a while served in the Kan­sas state le­gis­la­ture. In 18777, he went to Au­gus­ta­na Coll­ege, Rock Is­land, Il­li­nois, as a pro­fess­or of the­ol­o­gy. Re­sign­ing in 1888 due to ill health and his wife’s death, he tra­veled for a while in Amer­i­ca and abroad, then pas­tored in Wood­hull, Il­linois (1889), then served as pre­si­dent of Au­gus­ta­na Coll­ege and The­o­lo­gi­cal Sem­in­a­ry (1891-1900). He al­so helped ed­it the an­nu­al year­book Kors­ban­er­et, and the 1901 Hym­nal, the Au­gus­ta­na Synod’s first hym­nal in Eng­lish.

• Stulken, pp. 514-15

1. Death of Je­sus Christ, Our Lord, The
2. O Lamb of God, Most Ho­ly