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

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Democratic

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as the Attorney General of Montana from 1949 to 1957, and as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Montana's 1st congressional district Montana's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the United States House of Representatives that was apportioned after the 2020 United States census. The first candidates ran in the 2022 United States House of Representatives ...

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 the 2 ...

on December 17, 1916, to Anna (née Vennes) and Albert Olsen, both Norwegian immigrants. He attended Butte public schools, the Montana School of Mines, 1934–1936, and graduated from the

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

Law School (now the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five ...

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

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 three great-grandchildren, Victoria Graetz and Sawyer and Ella Olsen Trapp.

Career

Olsen opened a private law practice in 1940. He was elected as Attorney General of Montana in 1948, and was re-elected in 1952. Rather than seek re-election, he instead opted to run for

Governor of Montana A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

, and, after narrowly defeating former Governor John W. Bonner in the Democratic 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 supreme court, 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 w ...

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

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, when Congressman Lee Metcalf 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 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, 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 Patria ...

. 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 i ...

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

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, 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 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, he was narrowly defeated for re-election by

Richard G. Shoup Richard Gardner "Dick" Shoup (November 29, 1923 – November 25, 1995) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Montana, great-grandson of George Laird Shoup. Education Born in Salmon, Idaho, Shoup attended ...

, the Mayor of

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

. He ran against Shoup again in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, but ultimately lost to him. In

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

, 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 long ...

, 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 List of governors of Montana, governor of Montana from 1973 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, h ...

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 members of the United States House of Representatives