10 Facts About Russell Olson

Russell A Olson was an American farmer and Republican politician.

Russell Olson was the 39th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin and was afterward appointed Midwest Director for the United States Department of Transportation in the administration of US President Ronald Reagan.

Russell Olson served in the United States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1946, assigned to the Pacific theater of World War II.

Russell Olson moved to the rural town of Randall in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, where he raised cattle and started a family.

Russell Olson was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly for the first time in 1960, and served intermittently through 1977.

For over two years, from November 1962 to February 1965, Olson was involved in a drawn-out legal battle over the results of the 1962 Assembly election with his opponent in that election, Democrat Earl H Elfers.

Russell Olson later served on the UW Medical Center board and as a member of the Wisconsin Building Commission.

Russell Olson was a conservative Republican and outspoken opponent of welfare assistance.

Russell Olson broke with mainstream Republicans in opposing the tax cuts of the 1980s, believing that doing so would make budgets unsustainable.

Russell Olson was a member of the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Wisconsin Cattlemen's Association, and Twin Lakes Businessmen's Association.