The objects in Olson’s assemblages and sculptures act as a way of adding fragments of language to these very minimal conversations of experience. There are relationships all around us - between people, between objects, between a person and an object and so on - and each one is very different and complex. Olson’s background in art therapy and youth behavioral management permeates the implied narratives in his found object sculptures. Placement of unexpected objects near each other attempts to decode such relationships. These objects may not have an obvious relationship in their everyday uses, but when placed in a new context the relationship changes. The asculptures cause the viewer to question the objects and their relationship to what surrounds them. The choice of object stems from two things - the meaning its prior use holds and how that is affected when it becomes part of a piece of art, and its aesthetic quality, i.e. how the shape and color play against the other items in the assemblage. Olson’s work is held in several corporate collections including Allied Insurance, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Hy-Vee, Inc., Farm Bureau Financial Services, and Zarley Law Firm in Des Moines as well as the collections of Iowa State University in Ames, Central College, in Pella and Loras College in Dubuque. His work has been featured in one-person exhibitions at Central College, Buena Vista College, the Sioux City Art Center, George Washington University and has been included in the Iowa Artists Exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center. Olson is from Mitchellville, Iowa, and received his M.F.A. from George Washington University and his B.A. in Art Education from Central College in Pella.