district state_senate succeeded death_place death_date religion birth_place children party preceded birth_date term_start spouse article_title term_end name occupation alma_mater
18th and 27th minnesota darrel peterson st. james , minnesota 23 november 1996 lutheran madelia , minnesota 1 minnesota democratic-farmer-labor party walter j. franz 25 august 1937 january 5 , 1971 coleen skarpohl howard olson
 january 5 , 1981 howard olson farmer , legislator mankato state college
howard olson

howard d. olson -lrb- august 25 , 1937 -- november 23 , 1996 -rrb- was a minnesota politician and a member of the minnesota senate .
a democrat , olson was first elected in 1970 , and was re-elected in 1972 and 1976 .
during his first six years , he caucused with the liberal caucus , as the minnesota legislature was officially nonpartisan until 1976 .
he represented the old districts 18 and 27 , which changed somewhat through redistricting in 1972 , and included all or portions of cottonwood , jackson , martin , nobles and watonwan counties in the southwestern part of the state .
while in the senate , olson served on the agriculture and natural resources , health and welfare , local government , education , rules and administration , taxes and tax laws , and veterans ' affairs committees .
he was also a member of the natural resources and agriculture subcommittee for environmental protection , of the education subcommittees for post-secondary and higher education planning and coordination , for special education in state institutions , and for special programs , and of the taxes and tax laws subcommittee for sales and property tax .
olson was chair of the general legislation and veterans affairs committee from 1977 to 1978 , and of the general legislation and administrative rules committee from 1979 to 1980 .
he also chaired the natural resources and agriculture subcommittee for agriculture from 1973 to 1976 , and the education subcommittee for school boards and administration from 1975 to 1976 .
while in office , his special legislative concerns included agriculture , education , and the environment .
born in the town of madelia , olson grew up and lived in st. james , attending st. james high school , from which he graduated in 1955 , and mankato state college in mankato .
he was a lifelong farmer in the area .
