Shawn Olson.NET

Shawn Michael Olson was born in Medina,North Dakota on January 2, 1977. His parents were Donald and Donna Olson.

When Shawn was less than two years old the family of three moved to Grove City, Ohio to live with Donna’s parents, Clarence and Anna Himes. They lived here when Shawn’s sister Faith Ann Olson was born on January 17, 1979.

They lived on Reaver Avenue with Shawn’s grandparents until they moved into a small apartment complex along Harrisburg Pike in Grove City. From that home Shawn attended kindergarten and part of the first grade at J. C. Sommers Elementary School. While the family lived here, the third and final child of Don and Donna was born. Eric Matthew Olson was born on June 11, 1982.

Halfway into his first grade, Shawn and his family moved into a four-bedroom apartment at Weldon Square on the Westside of Columbus.

Schooling

Shawn Olson initially did well in school. After moving to the Westside, He attended first through fifth grade at North Franklin Elementary School. He did not especially enjoy his classes, but he developed a habit of listening to the lessons and finishing his work.

Grades six through eight Olson spent at Norton Middle School. During this period he excelled in classes. He obtained various medals of recognition at Norton, including several Student of the Year awards. He was Student of the Year once for English, once for social studies, twice for science, and once for physical education. He ran track at school and started playing basketball at home. At the end of the eighth grade he started to enjoy reading books.

High school was not as academically pristine for Olson. He quickly developed boredom with many classes and annoyance with others during his time at Westland High School. Those subjects that interested him, such as German, French, drama, and Newsmagazine were far outweighed by the classes that Olson felt were pointless or dull.

In the middle of his senior year Olson decided that he didn’t want to be in high school anymore. He put forth little effort to respect the hierarchy and structure of school. He was expelled from Westland in February of 1995. He did not return.

Even before he left school Olson had developed an obsessive fascination with school policies and educational philosophy. He started his own education into the topic of education, reading on various topics ranging from education and philosophy, to physics and history (for a complete list click here). When he later became a journalist for the Columbus Messenger Newspapers he often wrote about education in his regular column called Chalkboard. A more detailed overview of Olson’s educational philosophy can be found in the essays link. To get a more detailed description of Olson’s high school experience, read "My Experience at Westland High School".

Work

Olson worked off and on during his teen years with his father and his father’s friend Harold Pennington. Pennington did odd jobs such as remodeling bathrooms, scrapping metal, cleaning jobsites, cutting down trees, and taking down barns.

While he was not the most dedicated worker an employer could expect, Olson at least learned about being a jack-of-all-trades.

After he dropped out of high school, Olson went to work for Gurina Company, a boiler repair shop owned by the Smith family. Burt Smith hired Olson as a general laborer. Burt was the father of Olson’s close friend Nathan Smith.

Olson appreciated the opportunity that Gurina Co. afforded, but his heart was not in the trade. Within three months Olson quit as he tried to launch a magazine called This Side. The venture failed. Of the 1,300 copies that he printed, he sold 600. Much of the sales were made with the help of family and friends. His experience in sales and marketing was limited, and his failure was a frustration.

Olson went back to working with his father and Pennington. During the summer of 1995 he acquired $1000 for building a pole barn with his father for friends of the family: he bought a Canon SLR camera. He felt that he could become a professional photographer someday.

In 1995 Olson submitted some of his writing to the Columbus Messenger Newspapers, which was based at 3378 Sullivant Avenue, just a few blocks from Olson’s home. His submission was a copy of his failed magazine project This Side.

The editor told Olson that he couldn’t use Olson’s work, and they had no positions available for him. Later Olson submitted a copy to the Suburban News Publications. Martin Rozemann, the editor, told Olson that his cartoons were childish, and he would not be able to use Olson. When Olson talked to the Columbus Dispatch he was sent away because he had no college degree in journalism.

He spent most of his time taking care of his son and reading books while his wife Roxanne brought in most of the money.

Not until February of 1998 did Olson get a regular job. Petsmart hired him as an associate, and he worked in the fish department for eight months.

After eight months at Petsmart, Olson again felt the urge to use his creative talents to make a living. He was tired of the retail environment. He quit.

Again he spent several months without a job. Finally, in August of 1999, the Columbus Messenger Newspapers hired Olson as a freelance writer and photographer.

During his time with the Messenger Olson has covered township, school board and city meetings, wrote columns, put together feature stories, published a few poems, drew cartoons and compiled a few graphics for various stories. Between August 9, 1999 and August 5, 2001 Olson had published 1,097 different stories, photos and other works in the Messenger. His name appeared in the paper much more than 1,097 times, though, because many of the articles were printed in more than one of the Messenger’s five papers.

In the first two years Olson wrote 103 stories covering township, county, city and school board meetings. He wrote 175 feature stories. His photos reached 756 different pictures in the first two years, and he printed three graphics, seven cartoons, four poems, and forty-nine editorial columns. His work appeared on a cover page 227 times.

During his time working as a staff writer, he also developed his skills as a graphic designer. Although Olson had never studied art in school (he took no art courses in high school) he was gifted with artistic skills. His father was a talented painter and sculptor, which influenced Olson’s skills.

Olson bought his first graphic design program a week before he even owned a computer. He purchased CorelDRAW 8 from money he acquired when he had sold his darkroom equipment early in 1998.

For the next three years he polished his computer skills. After covering dozens of township meetings and seeing how companies promoted themselves, Olson decided to bid on a newsletter job for Prairie Township in western Franklin County.

Another company had bid the township newsletter at $4,200, and Olson knew he could do the same job for a lower cost. He submitted a bid at the end of 2000 for $3,550. Prairie Township awarded the bid to Olson and his new business Collision Graphics. Shawn designed a second newsletter for Prairie Township again in the fall of 2001. He was also hired to write and design campaign literature for two political candidates of the 2001 elections.

Olson continues to work as a staff writer and photographer for the Messenger as he continues to promote Collision Graphics.

Basic Information

Born: January 2, 1977

Height: 5’10”

Weight: 180

Home: Columbus, Ohio

Occupation: Photojournalist; graphic designer

Hobbies: Reading, writing, photography, drawing, basketball, hiking, role playing

Influences: Carl Sagan, John Dewey,Clarence Himes, Donald Olson

Copyright © 2002 by Shawn Olson. All rights reserved. To get more information, email shawn@shawnolson.net. To return to the home page, go to www.shawnolson.net.