Life and career

Olson was born in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated from Northwestern University. He performed stage work in and around Chicago before his 1956 film debut in The Sharkfighters. He starred alongside Joanne Woodward in the Academy Award-nominated best picture Rachel, Rachel in 1968. He made numerous stage, feature film and TV appearances from the mid-1950s until the early 1990s.

Olson's television appearances included guest roles on scores of shows, including episodes of Kraft Television Theatre, Ironside, Murder, She Wrote, Little House on the Prairie, Hawaii Five-O, Battlestar Galactica, Lou Grant, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Mannix, Bonanza, Have Gun-Will Travel, Marcus Welby, M.D., Police Woman, Barnaby Jones, The New Land, Columbo, Maude,The Virginian, and The Streets of San Francisco (The First Day of Forever).

Selected filmography

• The Sharkfighters (1956) - Ens. Harold Duncan
• The Strange One (1957) - Roger Gatt
• The Three Sisters (1966) - Baron Tuzenbach
• Rachel, Rachel (1968) - Nick Kazlik
• The Stalking Moon (1968) - Cavalry Officer (uncredited)
• Moon Zero Two (1969) - Kemp
• Crescendo (1970) - Georges Ryman / Jacques Ryman
• The Andromeda Strain (1971) - Dr. Mark Hall
• Wild Rovers (1971) - Joe Billings
• Paper Man (1971) - Art Fletcher
• The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972) - Sen. Stanton
• The Missiles of October (1974, TV movie) - McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant for National Security Affairs
• The Mafu Cage (1978) - David
• Ragtime (1981) - Father
• Amityville II: The Possession (1982) - Father Adamsky
• Cave-In! (1983) - Tom Arlen
• Commando (1985) - Major General Franklin Kirby
• Rachel River (1987) - Jack Canon

[ Source: Wikipedia ]