Roland Olson (b 1932) is the second son of Robert and Martha Olson, now deceased. He was born on the family homestead near Wynyard, Saskatchewan.

After completing his elementary education at the Rushville country school and the Wynyard town school, he attended Nutana Collegiate in Saskatoon. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966, and a Bachelor of Education degree in 1967. Since graduation he has taken art, drawing and art history classes at summer schools at the University of Saskatchewan (1972, 1973), at the University of Regina (1977, 1982), and at the School of Arts at Fort San. He has also attended art seminars and short courses sponsored by the Weyburn Community College.

In 1953, Roland married Lois Margaret Orr. They have seven children: Catherine (1955), Wilfred (1957), Marjorie (1959), Bernard (1960), Sharon (1962), Conrad (1966) and Stephanie (1970).

Roland Olson was a draftsman for the Saskatoon Oil Refinery (1955-1965), a teacher at Clavet (1967-69) and at Western Christian College (1969-1989). At Western his main teaching fields have been art, industrial arts, and chemistry. He was the first art teacher at Western, introducing that subject in 1973.

While at the college, Roland coached or managed the boys' hockey team for 18 years and the girl's hockey team for two years. During those years the boys returned to the Olson home after almost every game for lunch. Fresh homemade cinnamon buns were a specialty.

For many years, Roland and Lois taught the grades 3 and 4 Bible classes at the Weyburn Church of Christ. He taught vacation Bible school at Wawota and Clearview Christian Camp at Kenosee. After he retired from Western Christian College, he was selected as an elder at the Weyburn church.

Roland served on the Weyburn Arts Council for two years. His works of art toured the province in 1983. He won first place in 1989 at the regional contest sponsored by the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils. He has been on the N.D.P. Constituency Executive for 15 years and on the provincial council for two years.

Roland Olson's life on the college campus has brought many satisfactions: the satisfaction from welding the hockey boys into a co-operative unit, witnessing the forward strides of the projects in the industrial arts classes, the proximity of the art facility enabling him to spend many after-class hours there with his students, his own personal development in the fields of pottery and photography, helping to renovate the building that became a modern up-to-date art facility (Sinclair Vocational Arts Building), and finally the very pleasant community atmosphere. Roland treasures his memories of a fine relationship with his Chinese students. Some of his best art students have been Chinese. During preparations for the annual "Oriental Night," the Chinese students frequently sought his advice in decorating and stage production.