Olson’s fam­i­ly em­i­grat­ed to Amer­i­ca in 1875. He at­tend­ed Au­gus­ta­na Coll­ege in Rock Is­land, Il­li­nois. He worked for Swed­ish news­pa­pers, and for a pub­lish­er in Chi­ca­go, then be­came ed­i­tor of the Au­gus­ta­na Book Con­cern (1911-49). He wrote four orig­in­al hymns, and trans­la­ted al­most 30 more. He was a mem­ber of the Au­gus­ta­na Hym­nal Com­mit­tee, which pub­lished its Hym­nal and Or­der of Ser­vice in 1925, and was a mem­ber of the Joint Com­mis­sion on a Com­mon Hym­nal, which led to the pub­li­ca­tion of the Ser­vice Book and Hym­nal in 1958. In 1948, the King of Swe­den made Ol­son a knight of the Roy­al Or­der of Va­sa.

Olson’s works in­clude:

• History of the Swedes in Il­li­nois (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: The Eng­berg-Holm­berg Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny, 1908)
• En Bok­han­dels­his­to­ria
• The His­to­ry of the Au­gus­ta­na Book Con­cern: Pub­lish­ers to the Au­gus­ta­na Sy­nod, 1933

• Erickson, p. 362
• Hughes, p. 507
• Hustad, p. 297
• Stulken, p. 474

1. Glorious Yule­tide

1. All Hail to Thee, O Bless­ed Morn!
2. Children of the Hea­ven­ly Fa­ther
3. Jerusalem, Lift Up Thy Voice
4. Now Hail We Our Re­deem­er
5. O Lord, Give Ear un­to Our Plea
6. Sign of the Cross, The