- Jack B. Olson
Jack B. Olson (
August 29 ,1920 –July 3 ,2003 ) was an American businessman, politician, and Republican from theU.S. state ofWisconsin .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 attendedWestern Michigan University . Olson married Eleanor Lang ofKalamazoo, Michigan onMarch 7 ,1942 ; he graduated fromWestern Michigan University the same year with aBachelor of Science degree. Olson enlisted in the U.S. Navy after graduating and became aPT boat commander, serving in the North Atlantic duringWorld 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.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 theUniversity of Hawaii . Olson served three terms asLieutenant Governor of Wisconsin , from 1963 to 1965 and from 1967 to 1971. Olson 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 unsuccessfully ran as the Republican nominee for
governor of Wisconsin in 1970. He was theUnited States Ambassador to the Bahamas from 1976 to 1977. A delegate to the1964 Republican National Convention s, he unsuccessfully ran forgovernor of Wisconsin in 1970. Nixon appointed him to the Air Quality Advisory Board;Gerald Ford later appointedUnited States Ambassador to the Bahamas (1976-1977) and to the Citizens' Committee on Environmental Quality and theCommittee for Economic Co-operation and Development meeting .Olson won Western Michigan University's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1966. He is a past president of the Wisconsin Vacationland Council.
He died at age 82 on
July 3 ,2003 at his home following a long illness. [ [http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=2011&keyword=olson Olson, Jack B. 1920 ] ]Notes
External links
* [http://www.wmich.edu/alumni/awards_dist-olson.html Western Michigan University Distinguished Alumni Award profile]
*
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20030706/ai_n10900812 "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" obituary]succession box
title =United States Ambassador to the Bahamas
years =December 22 ,1976 –April 30 ,1977
before = Seymour Weiss
after =William B. Schwartz succession box
title=Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
before=Warren Knowles
after=Patrick Lucey
years=1963–1965succession box
title=Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
before=Patrick Lucey
after=Martin Schreiber
years=1967–1971
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