He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (with an emphasis in operations research), his M.S. in Industrial Engineering and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to coming to USD to establish the ISyE program, Dr. Olson taught in the Business School at Loyola University-Chicago and worked as a medical device engineer for Baxter-Travenol.