He was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly for the first time in 1960, and served intermittently through 1977.[2]
For over two years, from November 1962 to February 1965, Olson was involved in a drawn-out legal battle over the results of the 1962 Assembly election with his opponent in that election, Democrat Earl H. Elfers. Elfers had originally been declared the winner by a margin of roughly 30 votes, after some initial recounts and court challenges in which additional votes were counted and others invalidated, Elfers still led Olson by a margin of roughly 5 votes. When the Legislature returned in 1963, Elfers was accepted as the representative of Kenosha County's 2nd district. Olson, however, petitioned the Assembly to contest the election results and, five weeks into the term, the Assembly decided—in a party-line vote—to accept Olson as the rightful representative of the district and he went on to serve for the majority of the term.[4][5]
Elfers challenged the Assembly's decision in the state court system, arguing that since he had been initially accepted by the Assembly, and due to the Wisconsin Constitution requiring a 2/3 majority to expel a member of the Legislature, his expulsion was invalid. In May 1964, the Racine County judge who had been assigned the case, John Ahlgrimm, ruled in favor of Elfers. Although it was too late for Elfers to participate in any of the 1963–1964 legislative session, the judge ordered that he was entitled to back pay for the session. In September, Olson challenged the decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.[6] While waiting for a decision from the court, Elfers won a rematch with Olson in the 1964 election and took office. In February 1965, the Supreme Court overturned the county court's decision, ruling that Elfers' position in the Assembly in 1963 was provisional, since it was already under electoral challenge, and therefore the Legislature was within its rights to rule his election invalid in favor of the challenger, Olson.[7]
Olson and Elfers met again in the 1966 election, and this time Olson prevailed with a clear majority.[8]
During his time in the legislature, Olson served on the committees on Agriculture, Insurance and Banking, Small Business, Labor, and the Joint Committee on Finance. Olson later served on the UW Medical Center board and as a member of the Wisconsin Building Commission.[2]
In 1978, he was elected the 39th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, an office he held from 1979 until 1983. During his term, the Wisconsin Constitution was amended so that the lieutenant governor was no longer the president of the state senate. Olson was a conservative Republican and outspoken opponent of welfare assistance. Olson broke with mainstream Republicans in opposing the tax cuts of the 1980s, believing that doing so would make budgets unsustainable.
After his term ended, Olson worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation as Midwest Director.[9]
Personal life and family
Olson and his wife, Frances, were married in Spring 1947.[3] They had four daughters together and retired to Florida after leaving the federal government. They resided at Anna Maria, Florida, and Holmes Beach, Florida, where he died in 2010.[10] At the time of his death, three of his daughters were still living.[11]
^Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1968). "Elections"(PDF). The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1968 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 713, 725. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
