Donald C. "Donny" Olson (born June 18, 1953) is an American physician, attorney, commercial pilot, reindeer herder, and politician, currently serving as a member of the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gub ...

, representing the T district since 2001.

Early life

Olson was born in the Inupiat village of Golovin, Alaska, where he resides to date. He graduated from Covenant High School in Unalakleet, attended

Seattle Pacific College Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a private Christian university in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1891 in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It became the Seat ...

; then the

University of Minnesota, Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 Academic major, majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a ...

, where he received a B.A. in Chemistry; attended the

University of Alaska, Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...

; the

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts. Sitting on a campus, ORU offers over 70 undergraduate degree programs ...

School of Medicine in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, where he received his M.D., the University of Colorado School of Law for his Juris Doctor, and did postgraduate work in law at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in England.Donny Olson

Alaska State Legislature The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives (lower house) and the 20-member Alaska Senate (upper house). There are 40 Hou ...

, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.

Career

He is the president and CEO of Olson Air Service, based in

Nome, Alaska Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded ...

. He was appointed to the

Alaska State Medical Board The Alaska State Medical Board is the medical governing board in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is staffed by the Division of Occupational Licensing. ASMB is a member of the Federation of State Medical Boards. History COVID-19 In December 2021 ...

by Governor Tony Knowles in 1995 and served until taking office in the Alaska Senate in 2001. He was the sole Democrat associated with the Alaska political corruption probe. He was the only Alaska legislator to reject a bribe offer to vote for an oil tax bill. It was proposed as a campaign contribution of $25,000 for his 2004 Lieutenant Governor's race. He subsequently helped the FBI make their case against those involved. Olson caucused with the

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

in the majority during the 28th Senate, from 2013 to 2014, but he was not invited to participate in the organization of the majority caucus for the 29th Senate. He is currently a member of the Democratic minority caucus.

References

External links

Alaska State Legislature - Senator Donald Olson
official AK Senate website
Project Vote Smart - Representative Donald Olson (AK)
profile * ''Follow the Money'' - Donald Olson *
200620042000
Senate campaign contributions *
2006
Lieutenant Governor campaign contributions
Donny Olson
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' 1953 births Living people Aviators 20th-century American physicians 21st-century American physicians 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans 21st-century American politicians Democratic Party Alaska state senators Businesspeople from Alaska Inupiat people Native American physicians Native American state legislators in Alaska Oral Roberts University alumni People from Nome, Alaska Physicians from Alaska University of Minnesota alumni {{NativeAmerican-politician-stub