Brent C Olson

Brent Olson, recipient of the 2024 Prairie Star Award, has been a journalist for a quarter of a century, publishing seven books and filing thousands of articles from over twenty countries on six continents. For 25 years, Olson has entertained, enlightened, and challenged his readers to think more globally while giving residents of southwestern Minnesota the words to express pride in rural living.

Additionally, Olson has taught writing classes in nine states and six countries. He is a Bush Foundation Fellow and has been a keynote speaker for various organizations and events, including the National Association of Rural Mental Health Professionals, College Theological Convocation in Portland, OR, and the Saskatchewan Pork Producers.

Olson farmed for thirty years, served as a rural county commissioner for twenty, and has been an involved citizen of the world for seventy. From helping to build a school in the mountains of Haiti to dodging reindeer on Svalbard, every mile traveled, and every event experienced has informed his view of the world. He had something to say and deeply, desperately hopes someone will hear.