Mike Olson currently serves as Assistant Director of College Advising and Boys’ Basketball Coach at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, New Hampshire.
Olson has guided the Wildcats to four consecutive winning seasons and an overall record of 71-38. The 2011-12 team proved to be one of the finest in school history finishing with a 21-6 record and a quarter-final appearance in the NEPSAC AA Tournament. The 2012-13 season saw the Wildcats advance to the NEPSAC AA semi-finals where they fell to eventual champion Cushing.
Prior to accepting his current position Olson coached at Thetford (VT) Academy, where during the 2007-2008 season he guided the Panthers to an overall 18-5 record and a semi-final berth in the State Tournament.
From 2002-2004 he was Associate Head Coach at Dartmouth College where he worked under former KUA coach Dave Faucher. Responsible for team defense, Olson directed the Big Green to top half finishes in the Ivy League in points allowed and field goal percentage each year. He also served as national recruiting coordinator and helped land five early decision candidates in 2004.
Olson came to Hanover, NH following a successful three year stint as head coach at Minnesota State University Moorhead, an NCAA II program and a member of the strong Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. During the 2002 season the Dragons went 16-11, the highest win total in ten years. On January 20th, versus Minnesota-Crookston, Olson achieved a coaching milestone recording his 300th collegiate victory.
From 1990-1999 Olson served as head coach at Black Hills State University. During his tenure at BHSU, his teams won four South Dakota-Iowa Conference titles and advanced to the NAIA National Championships four times. The Yellow Jackets best showing at nationals came during the 1997 and 1999 seasons when the team advanced to the Elite Eight. Olson was honored as SDIC coach of the year following the ’93, ’97,’98 and ’99 seasons. The 1999 squad would rise to a national NAIA #2 ranking, produce an overall 26-7 record, feature three All-Americans and one Academic All-American, and boast a 3.07 team grade point average. Overall, 28 of 29 seniors who played for Olson at BHSU received their degrees. Later, BHSU would name him their “coach of the century” commemorating 100 years of basketball on the Spearfish, SD campus. Olson was inducted into the BHSU Hall of Fame in September, 2011.
Prior to accepting the BHSU position Olson coached at Gustavus Adolphus College and Mount Senario College. He compiled an overall mark of 90-56 over five consecutive winning seasons and was named Upper Midwest Collegiate Conference coach of the year after the 1988 and 1989 seasons.
Olson began his professional career at the high school level where he taught physical education and served as head baseball and basketball coach at Lake Geneva (WI) Northwestern Military Academy and Green Bay (WI) Bay Port High School.
In 25 seasons as a head coach Olson has compiled an overall record of 432-253 including a 305-191 collegiate mark. His secondary school record stands at 127-62 in eight seasons. A noted teacher of basketball fundamentals, Olson has developed an international presence while conducting clinics and camps in Scotland, England, Iceland, Sweden, Australia and Greece.
Olson, a Tomahawk, WI native, received his bachelor’s degree from St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI (1981) and a master’s degree in education from Norwich University, Northfield, VT (1982). He also holds an advanced study certificate in educational leadership from Upper Valley Educators Institute, Lebanon, NH.
Mike and his wife Colleen, a nurse practitioner at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, reside in South Strafford, VT. They are the parents of two adult children, Katy, a Middlebury College graduate, and Erik, a Linfield College graduate who is currently the head coach of FSu in Selfoss, Iceland.
