Education
From 1876 to 1877 he attended school at Battle Creek College (now Andrews University).
From 1876 to 1877 he attended school at Battle Creek College (now Andrews University).
He was General Conference president from 1888 to 1897. Born in Skogen, near Christiania, Norway, Olsen emigrated to the United States to Wisconsin at the age of 5. He was baptized in 1858.
In 1869 the Wisconsin Conference granted him a ministerial license.
On June 2, 1873, he was ordained as a minister. The following year he was elected president of the Wisconsin Conference.
He served in a variety of administrative posts. At the 1888 General Conference session he was elected General Conference president
Olsen was one of the first individuals to advocate the formation of Union Conferences.
After he was not reelected as church president (1897) he went as a missionary to South Africa. In 1901 he was asked to head the work in Great Britain. Olsen died of a heart attack on January 29, 1915.
The 1888 General Conference Session elected Olsen as president
However, he was in Europe at the time and did not take on the presidency until May 1889. The 1889 General Conference session, held in October, gave Olsen the opportunity to bring about changes and development.
His opening address set the pace. Olsen"s objectives included everyday administrative concerns as well a major shifting of structure and practices:
There should be more translation of such literature into German.
Establish laborers in Turkey, France, Italy, Austria, Holland and Spain.
Believers in Scandinavia want, and should have, schools established. Australasia: The Australasian Conference needed a business manager so the leader, Tenny, could do more editing and conference work. Daniells, in New Zealand, needed an assistant.
The canvassing work was getting started there and needed to be put on a business footing.
South Africa: Foreign South Africa, a Dutch laborer should go back with Wessels to work among the people of that nationality. There should be tracts in the Nguni languages.
The United States: The work in the Southern United States needed attention. Olsen believed that canvassing, or book sales, would be the most successful type of work in the early years of the work there.
Missions in the big American cities should get special help.
The Bible school in Chicago deserved the conference"s support. In 1889, three Colleges existed to serve the church: Battle Creek in Michigan, South Lancaster in Massachusetts, and Healdsburg in California. Careful consideration should be given to a college in the Mid-West.
This district superintendent would plan the institutes, camp-meetings, general meetings and other work for the territory.
(Olsen, 1889, p 8) As the meetings progressed, Olsen"s recommendation on this became a reality. Training Institutes: There should be special time-limited schools established for the training of ministers, the teaching of the Scandinavian, French and German languages in the United States.
Most of these schools were slated to begin in November 1889. Yet, everything that has been started should be improved upon.
Religious Liberty: The recently established National Religious Liberty Association should receive the General Conference Session"s endorsement.
The Government College Session should also develop a plan for circulating Religious Liberty petitions. These initiatives demonstrate Olsen"s comprehensive involvement with the world church.
Olsen recommended that the work in the United States be divided into districts with each one being under the supervision of a member of the General Conference committee.