Donald Olson

Donald Olson was born on March 22, 1940 in Killdeer, North Dakota. He was the second child and first son of George and Josephine Olson, and he was born at their home along the base of the Killdeer Mountains. Olson grew up on a ranch environment, taking care of livestock and repairing fences in a true wilderness. Juxtaposed between expansive rolling prairie and the gumbo-filled Badlands, the Killdeer Mountains were a perfect place to learn about wildlife As a young man Olson joined the army and traveled to Panama and Germany. When his army time was over, he returned to North Dakota. He had found that he was gifted with drawing and painting, and he turned to art and sculpture. In the years since Olson has been painting off and on as a hobby. He married Donna Himes from Columbus, Ohio in 1975. In 1977 they bore their first child, Shawn, in Medina, ND. In 1978 the Olson’s moved to Grove City, OH. There they had a second child, Faith, in 1979. Finding work in the urbanite community of central Ohio was not easy for an ex-cowboy. He worked off and on as a bike repair man, a ceramicist for Scioto Ceramics, a drafter, and a jack-of-all-trades handy-man with his friend Harold Pennington. Work became more difficult when Olson had an automobile accident that caused a herniated disk in his spine. For the rest of his life the disk caused pain to him after any extended period of time spent sitting. This affected his art. He slowed down after the accident. In 1982 Olson had a third child, Eric. The Olsons soon moved to the west side of Columbus, OH. As his interests turned more to religion, Olson spent less time painting and sculpting and more time making clocks. He became interested in time cycles, and applied his artistic skills in adorning his 24-hour clocks with paintings of wilderness horizons. His official website for clocks is at www.evemorn.com To this day he’s still working on his clocks. He’s also started to get back into his art.

What's on my mind...

Donald Olson

Posted on Jun 30, 2011 | Last Updated Jun 30, 2011

Donald Olson is a wildlife artist specializing in oil painting in sculpture, but also adept at ceramics, watercolors, pen and ink, and pencil.

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don, don olson, donald george olson, don george ol

Evening and Morning

Posted on Aug 21, 2005 | Last Updated Nov 8, 2011
dusk or dawndusk or dawndusk or dawndusk or dawn

Two scenic paintings of dusk and dawn by Don Olson.

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evening, morning, dusk, dawn, evemorn, wildlife paintings

White Tail Deer Sculptures

Posted on Jun 22, 2005 | Last Updated Nov 8, 2011

Original whitetail deer sculptures by Donald Olson.

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whitetail deer sculptures, buck, doe, pair

Digital Deer Paintings

Posted on Mar 10, 2005 | Last Updated Nov 8, 2011

Samples of deer paintings rendered on a computer. Art by Don Olson.

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deer art, digital paintings, wildlife

Digital Wildlife Art

Posted on Feb 24, 2005 | Last Updated Nov 8, 2011

My first attempts at wildlife art using a computer. Art by Don Olson.

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wildlife art, digital art, drawing, painting

Whitetail Buck

Posted on Dec 31, 2004 | Last Updated Nov 8, 2011

I retouched a whitetail buck I sculpted many years ago. Art by Don Olson.

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whitetail buck sculpture

Whitetail Buck Sculpture

Posted on Jun 5, 2004 | Last Updated Nov 5, 2011

Sculpture of whitetail deer by Donald Olson. Colored with oil paints.

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whitetail deer sculpture, donald olson, oil paint

Elk Sculptures

Posted on Feb 12, 2004 | Last Updated Nov 5, 2011

Sculptures of male and female elk by wildlife artist Donald Olson.

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elk sculptures, wildlife art, sculpture, male, female

My Lady Love Donna

Posted on Aug 12, 2003 | Last Updated Oct 31, 2011

Donna was a wonderful wife.

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donna, my wife, love, lost

Wildlife Art

Posted on Jun 4, 2003 | Last Updated Nov 19, 2011

Samples of wildlife art from Columbus-based artist Donald Olson.

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Wildlife Sculptures

Posted on Jun 4, 2003 | Last Updated Nov 19, 2011

Samples of wildlife sculptures by Columbus-based artist Donald Olson.

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Mountain Majesty

Posted on Feb 14, 2003 | Last Updated Oct 31, 2011

A wildlife oil painting by Donald Olson. Painting of a buck white-tail deer watching a sunset.

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oil, painting, deer, mountain, sunset

Scenic Paintings

Posted on Jan 12, 2003 | Last Updated Oct 16, 2012

Oil paintings of rural or wilderness scenes by Donald Olson.

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oil painging scenery by don olson, donald olson

Deer Sculptures

Posted on Dec 22, 2002 | Last Updated Oct 30, 2011

Some of my deer sculptures. Art by Don Olson.

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deer sculptures

The Cape Buffalo

Posted on Dec 22, 2002 | Last Updated Oct 30, 2011

My showcase sculpture, the cape buffalo. Art by Don Olson.

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cape buffalo sculpture wildlife art

Ink Animals

Posted on Nov 20, 2002 | Last Updated Oct 30, 2011

Samples of wildlife in ink by Donald Olson.

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ink drawings, wildlife inks, beaver, bobcat, pronghorn,

African Paintings

Posted on Nov 20, 2002 | Last Updated Oct 30, 2011

Three oils by Donald Olson depicting African wildlife.

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african art, oil paintings, lions, antelope, kudu

Deer Paintings 1

Posted on Nov 20, 2002 | Last Updated Oct 30, 2011

Samples of Donald Olson's oil paintings and watercolors of deer.

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wildlife paintings, oil paintings, wildlife art, watercolors, deer art
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