Background

Donald James Olsen was born on January 8, 1929, in Seattle, Washington, United States. He was a son of Iver J. Olsen and Anna (Donald J.) Olsen.

Education

Donald earned his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Yale University.

Career

Donald taught at the University College Hull (present-day University of Hull) before journeying to North America for a stint as an educator at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1954. In 1955, he began a lengthy association with Vassar College, first as an instructor and ultimately as the Eloise Ellery Professor of History, beginning in 1972. He retired in 1994.

During his lifetime, Olsen also wrote many articles and reviews for journals, and served as an editorial advisor for "The London Journal".

Achievements

• Donald James Olsen gained prominence as a Professor of History, who penned several books, which include "Planning in London: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries", "The City as a World of Art: London, Paris, Vienna" and "The Growth of Victorian London".
  
  In 1959, Olsen received a Fulbright Fellowship to study town planning as done by large landowners in London before 1900. In 1967, Donald received Guggenheim Fellowship, which funded a research on the management of two large British urban leasehold estates during the nineteenth century. He received his second Guggenheim Fellowship in 1979, the result of which was the book "The City as a Work of Art: London, Paris, Vienna".
  
  Also, in 1987, Olsen attained British Council Prize in the Humanities.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The City as a Work of Art: London, Paris, Vienna

    (This work examines public buildings and homes in ninteent...)

    1986
  • Town Planning in London: The Eighteenth & Nineteenth Centuries 1964
  • The Growth of Victorian London 1976

Personality

In his life beyond the college, Olsen was an avid traveler and a lover of railroads. He rode many of the world's famous railroads in his time and had an extensive collection of rail timetables. Most of his adventures were solo trips, which were all the more impressive in view of his physical restraints.

Physical Characteristics: Olsen was born with spina bifida, a disease, that paralyzes the lower limbs. Doctors never expected him to be able to use his legs, but as a young man, he somehow managed to learn to walk with crutches. By his fifties, however, his strength gave out, and he was consigned to a wheelchair. Despite the wheelchair, Olsen loved to travel and was determined, that his handicap would not impede his ability to see the world.

Connections

Father:

Iver J. Olsen

Mother:

Anna (Donald J.) Olsen