1. Gregory Hammond Olsen was born on April 20,1945 and is an American entrepreneur, engineer and scientist who, in October 2005, became the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip to the International Space Station with the company Space Adventures.
Gregory Olsen, born in Brooklyn, New York, was the son of an IBEW Local 3 electrician.
Gregory Olsen grew up in Bay Ridge and graduated from Ridgefield Park High School, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey in 1962.
Gregory Olsen initially wanted to be a baseball player but realised from local little league how tough the standard was.
Gregory Olsen was inspired by his father to become an electrician, always having the education at home to fix things in-house instead of calling a repairman.
Gregory Olsen later graduated with a PhD in materials science from the University of Virginia.
Gregory Olsen has two daughters, Kimberly and Krista, and six grandchildren: Justin Dibsie, Carter Dibsie, Danielle Dibsie, Romina Lapadula, Athina Lapadula, and Oriana Lapadula.
Gregory Olsen founded EPITAXX, a fiberoptic detector manufacturer in 1984 together with Vladimir Ban.
Gregory Olsen then founded Sensors Unlimited in 1992 with Dr Marshall J Cohen.
Gregory Olsen has made some comments indicating that he is unhappy with the "space tourist" designation.
Gregory Olsen went in to great detail about his flight in an interview with Paul Stenning.
Gregory Olsen revealed he had to train for a year and a half before being ready to go into space.
Gregory Olsen had to have a monthly medical check to obtain permission to fly.
Gregory Olsen conducted several experiments in remote sensing and astronomy while aboard the space station.
Dr Gregory Olsen is a licensed amateur radio operator holding FCC callsign KC2ONX and spoke to students via ham radio from space through the ARISS project.
Gregory Olsen was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2010 for research and commercialization of optical components for fiber communications and national defense.
Gregory Olsen was elected a member of the Fairlleigh Dickinson University Board of Trustees.