Background
Olson was born in Orlando, Florida and raised in Portland, Oregon. His mother was a registered nurse and homemaker, his father was a sales executive at Xerox Corporation and later Apple Incorporated.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Jeff Olson
Edit Profile
Jeffrey David "Jeff" Olson is an American activist, bureaucrat, and snowboard instructor best known for being tried on vandalism charges resulting from a series of incidents where he was accused of using washable, children"s sidewalk chalk to write messages in opposition to the business practices of Bank of America on public sidewalks in San Diego, California.
Career
He has also worked as a full-time snowboard instructor at the Mountain. Hood Meadows Ski Resort with certification from The Professional Ski Instructors of America - American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI). On October 11,2011 Jeff Olson stood outside a BOA branch and encouraged people to close their accounts with BOA and open accounts with a non-profit cr union instead.
As he was passing out flyers for California Coast Cr Union which would pay him a referral fee, Darrell Freeman,a BOA vice president, accused him of running a business, a claim which Olson denied.
According to Olson,Freeman threatened to have Olson"s accounts at California Coast closed if he did not desist from promoting them in front of the BOA branch. On April 12, 2013, Jeff Olson was charged with 13 counts of misdemeanor vandalism.
The charges, a violation of California Penal Code 594(a)(b)(2)(A), were brought by the office of January I. Goldsmith, San Diego City Attorney, at the bequest of Bank of America, VP Darell Freeman. Deputy City Attorney and lead prosecutor, Paige Hazard contended that Olson"s use of children"s washable chalk on city sidewalks was a crime.
Olson was represented in court by Tom Tosdal of Solana Beach, California.
He faced 13 years in jail and $13,000 in fines for writing anti-big bank slogans in water-soluble children's chalk on public sidewalks in front of San Diego Bank of America branches. People versus Olson was heard by the Honorary Judge Howard H. Shore.
Judge Shore issued a gag order in the case and ruled that Tosdal could not use the First Amendment as a defense.
His trial began on June 25, 2013, and was presented to the jury for deliberations on June 28. The defendant found not guilty of all charges on July 1, 2013.
The case received worldwide media coverage, galvanizing both free-speech advocates and those wary of government overreach. Olson appeared on the Rick Amato show on August 12, 2013, discussing minimum wage, Obamacare, Costco, Walmart, Rush Limbaugh, and Donald Trump with Victoria Taft.
He also portrayed the victim in a demonstration by producer Christine Johnson of the Filner headlock.
