Barry Thomas Olson

Barry Thomas Olson was born in Great Falls, Montana on August 28, 1938, to Arthur Olson of Fairfield, Montana and Sadie Sulgrove of Choteau, Montana and was raised in the West.

His dad worked for Peter Kiewit Son’s for 25 years as a master mechanic and operating engineer. His grandfather, James Sulgrove, was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Montana in 1892 and was appointed the first county attorney for the newly formed Teton County in 1893.

Barry graduated from high school in Riverdale, North Dakota in 1956, the site of Garrison Dam on the Missouri River. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of North Dakota in 1963 where he was also a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force and served on active duty at Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana in the Civil Engineering Squadron. He worked with the Army Corps of Engineers in Seattle and Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana and became a registered professional engineer in 1968 in North Dakota.

He then attended Law School at the University of North Dakota and graduated in 1971 with a degree of Juris Doctor. He was a Phi Delta Phi Graduate of the Year and published in the North Dakota Law Review.

After 5 years as a Deputy County Attorney with the Cascade County Attorney’s Office, Barry went into private practice and retired in 2007. Olson was recruited into service in the USAFR after law school in the Judge Advocate General’s office at Malmstrom and Vandenburg Air Force Base, California. He attended Air Command and Staff College and Air War College by non-resident seminar at Malmstrom AFB and was promoted to Colonel in 1989 and retired from the USAF Reserves in 1994 with 30 years of service. He was incredibly proud of his service, following his father’s service in WWII.

Barry enjoyed tennis and golf and was a member of the Meadow Lark Country Club. He loved the outdoors, elk hunting, floating the Missouri river, and cooking. He hosted his sister-in-law’s brothers on elk hunts where his elk camp trailer is in the lore of the family. He never married but regularly visited his extended family where his dry and witty humor was always welcomed. He is survived by his brother, Les Olson of Carrizozo, New Mexico; and two nephews, Eric Olson of Madison, Alabama and Kirk Olson of Au Gres, Michigan.