Olson’s family emigrated to America in 1875. He attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He worked for Swedish newspapers, and for a publisher in Chicago, then became editor of the Augustana Book Concern (1911-1949). 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, and was a member of 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.

Olson’s works include: