A Blast from the Past: Mr. Olsen
Olsen won Middle School Teacher of the Year for the 2018-2019 school year.
By: Jack McInelly
The history teacher with a lot of history: Mr. Olsen. He is arguably of the most interesting teachers at Jenks High School from teaching English in Costa Rica to naming his kids after Vikings to playing in a men’s 30+ soccer league on weeknights.
Olsen graduated in 2006 from Jenks High School. He played varsity soccer, was a member of the Trojanaires, and was featured in two plays. From there, he enrolled as a Mustang at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. For the next 2 months, Olsen was a biology major.
“It was 59 days too long,” said Olsen. “I felt like I was doing it for the wrong reason, and I think I did it because my dad was a doctor.”
Olsen then transferred to anthropology or ‘the science of humanity.’ After 4 years, he graduated from SMU with a double major in anthropology and international studies. Post graduation, Olsen knew he wanted a job where he could travel. At first, he settled on being an archaeologist. He enjoyed being in the field and searching for fossils, but in the end, all the hours spent in old, ‘dusty basements’ just weren’t for him.
“[I asked myself] What could I do that would let me leave the country and get job experience? I knew that my cousins had taught internationally, and I felt like that was something that I could do,” said Olsen.
Opportunity struck. He found a program in Costa Rica called Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). The program would allow him to gain job experience while making a little cash. In 2011, three months after college graduation, on archaeologist money, Olsen packed his bags and left his friends and family behind, and went on a little trip to Costa Rica.
Olsen was paid $400 per month in cash. Rent and bus fares were $225 a month and everything else was spent on food, surfing, and other activities. One whole year later, Olsen had become certified and had the option to leave Costa Rica, search for a better job, and be close to family. While he had loved the country, he felt it had “lost its shine.”
“Costa Rica was a good experience, it taught me a lot about how to live on my own and how to solve problems in a foreign country,” said Olsen. “I could’ve called my parents but like…. what are they gonna do? They’re thousands of miles away.”
Present day: 15 years after moving to Costa Rica, Mr. Olsen teaches history at JHS. He has a wife and two kids: a boy and a girl. Olsens’ ancestors come from Norway. His lineage follows the path of the ancient Vikings and eventually makes its way into his home state, Wisconsin. Olsen’s son is named Leif, after Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky. Leif Erikson was a legendary Norwegian Viking that was thought to have been the first European to set foot on North America, even before Christopher Columbus.
Olsen educating sophomores on the roman empire.
In Norwegian and Scandinavian names, a person's last name was their father’s first name and their sons. Olsen’s Great-Great-Grandfather was named Olle. So when his great-grandfather immigrated to the US at Ellis Island, they wrote his name down as Olsen, as in Olle’s son. Meals in the Olsen household were often interesting.
“When I was a kid, my Christmas food wasn't roasted ham, it was nasty, boiled, Norwegian fish and flatbread,” said Olsen. “My grandma also used to make this thing called ‘lutefisk’ which is cod, buried in lye. It’s nasty, and we did it for a while until everyone was like ‘okay we can’t do that anymore.’”
Great works run in the family. Olsen’s wife, Amy Olsen is the director of the nonprofit, Outreach, a youth service organization in Tulsa. The nonprofit works as a “wrap-around service.” They aim to help mainly youth break the cycle of homeless and get them into apartments.
“Mr. Olsen is a caring guy. He cares about everybody—every single student, even the teachers as well,” said head basketball coach, Will Finfrock. “On a scale of 1-10, 10.5/10 is Mr. Olsen. He’s just a great guy. he wants to work hard for the kids and wants to help out his fellow peers.”
Olsen spent 4 years at Jenks Middle school and won Middle school teacher of the year in 2019. Before the 2021 school year, he transferred to the high school where he now remains.
“He’s probably one of the best and most unique teachers I’ve ever had,” said current student Sam Stone. “You never really know what new and exciting things you might learn when you go to class.”
Olsen has been teaching for 8 years and hopes to continue teaching at Jenks. He plans to continue traveling. He also plays in a over 30, men’s soccer league.
“It's an excuse to not go to the gym,” said Olsen.
After scoring a goal with a smirk, he said, “still got it.”
Mr. Olsen can be found in room 5112 in building 5 and can always guarantee you a good laugh.