Arnold Olsen (December 17, 1916 – October 9, 1990) was a U.S.

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as the

Attorney General of Montana The Montana Department of Justice is a state law enforcement agency of Montana. The Department is equivalent to the State Bureau of Investigation in other states. The Montana Attorney General, currently Republican Austin Knudsen, heads the agen ...

from 1949 to 1957, and as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

from Montana's 1st congressional district from 1961 to 1971.

Early life

He was born in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to th ...

on December 17, 1916 to Anna (née Vennes) and Albert Olsen, both Norwegian immigrants. He attended Butte public schools, the

Montana School of Mines Montana Technological University, popularly known as Montana Tech, is a public university in Butte, Montana. Founded in 1900 as the Montana State School of Mines, the university became affiliated with the University of Montana in 1994. After und ...

, 1934–1936, and graduated from the

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...

Law School (now the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork Ri ...

in 1940. He served four years of overseas duty in the Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In August 1942, during shore leave, Olsen married Margaret Mary Williams, of Butte. They had three children - Margaret Rae Olsen, Anna Kristine Olsen, and Karin Synneve Olsen Billings. Arnold and Margaret have 5 grandchildren; John-David Childs, Todd Arnold Graetz, Kara Ann (Graetz) Trapp; Jonathan Olsen Billings and Luke Alexander Billings. They had two great-grandchildren, Victoria Graetz and Sawyer Olsen Trapp.

Career

Olsen opened a private law practice in 1940. He was elected as

in 1948, and was re-elected in 1952. Rather than seek re-election, he instead opted to run for

Governor of Montana The governor of Montana is the head of government of Montana Montana Constitution, Article VI, Section 4. and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either approve or ve ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

, and, after narrowly defeating former Governor

John W. Bonner John Woodrow Bonner (July 16, 1902 – March 28, 1970) was an American politician who served as the 13th Governor of Montana from January 3, 1949, to January 4, 1953. He was the first Governor of Montana to be born in the 20th century. Biograph ...

in the

primary, advanced to the general election, where he faced incumbent Governor J. Hugo Aronson. Following a close campaign, Olsen narrowly lost to Aronson. Following his defeat, he ran for the position of Chief Justice of the

Montana Supreme Court The Montana Supreme Court is the highest court of the state court system in the U.S. state of Montana. It is established and its powers defined by Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court which reviews ...

, but lost to incumbent Chief Justice James T. Harrison by a slim margin. In 1960, when Congressman

Lee Metcalf Lee Warren Metcalf (January 28, 1911 – January 12, 1978) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1953–1961) and a U.S. Senator (1961–1978) from Montana. He was the ...

opted to run for the Senate rather than seek re-election, Olsen ran to succeed him in the 1st congressional district. He defeated George P. Sarsfield, the Republican nominee, winning his first of five terms. Olsen was narrowly re-elected over Republican Wayne Montgomery in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

, and by a wider margin against Montgomery in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

. In

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

, he defeated Republican nominee Dick Smiley by about two thousand votes, and, in a rematch against Smiley in

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

, by a wider margin. When Olsen ran for a sixth term in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

, he was narrowly defeated for re-election by

Richard G. Shoup Richard Gardner "Dick" Shoup (November 29, 1923 – November 25, 1995) was a U.S. Representative from Montana, great-grandson of George Laird Shoup. Education Born in Salmon, Idaho, Shoup attended the Salmon public schools. He received h ...

, the Mayor of

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork Ri ...

. He ran against Shoup again in 1972, but ultimately lost to him. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

, he ran for Congress one final time, but lost in the Democratic primary to

Max Baucus Maxwell Sieben Baucus ( Enke; born December 11, 1941) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Montana from 1978 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a U.S. senator for over 35 years, making him the longe ...

, who ended up defeating Shoup in the general election. Olsen was appointed by Governor

Thomas Lee Judge Thomas Lee Judge (October 12, 1934 – September 8, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 18th governor of Montana from 1973 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 25th lieutenant governor of Montana ...

to the Second Judicial District of Montana, in 1977, and elected to that post in 1979 and two additional times, serving until his death in 1990.

References

External links

The Honorable Arnold Olsen
(Montana Law Review)
Arnold Olsen Papers
(University of Montana Archives) , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Arnold 1916 births 1990 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II American people of Norwegian descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Montana Montana Attorneys General Montana state court judges Montana Technological University alumni Politicians from Butte, Montana University of Montana alumni 20th-century American judges 20th-century American politicians