Benjamin James Olson (born February 28, 1983) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

college

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He played four injury-plagued seasons of

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, starting 10 games (and appearing in four others).

Early life

Born in

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 ...

,"Player Bio: Ben Olson"
UCLA Bruins, retrieved September 13, 2022. Olson grew up in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

, where he played quarterback for

Thousand Oaks High School Thousand Oaks High School (TOHS) is a high school in Thousand Oaks, California, United States. Established in 1962, it is part of the Conejo Valley Unified School District. It has a suburban campus with one story buildings, connected by external ...

in California for four years. For three of those years, he played on the varsity team, alongside David Anderson. Olson was considered the top quarterback prospect"UCLA's Ben Olson making the grade"
''

The Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily List of newspapers in California, newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digit ...

'', August 30, 2006.Jeff Call
"Why former top recruit quarterback Ben Olson came to BYU but never played a down"
''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

'', June 14, 2018.and even top high school football recruit in the countryfollowing a highly productive senior year in which he threw for 2,989 yards and 32 touchdowns, earning high school All-American honors in 2001."Ex-next-great-BYU QB loving life at UCLA"
''

The Press-Enterprise ''The Press-Enterprise'' is a paid daily newspaper published by Digital First Media that serves the Inland Empire in Southern California. Headquartered in downtown Riverside, California, it is the primary newspaper for Riverside County, with h ...

'', via ''Deseret News'', August 13, 2005, archived fro
the original
on December 10, 2005.

College career

Upon graduation in 2002, Olson signed with

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

and redshirted his freshman season. He then went on a two-year

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

to Canada with the

LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded during ...

.Kevin Pearson, "UCLA's other Olson on a mission to make difference", ''The Press-Enterprise'', August 13, 2005. In 2005 Olson transferred to

, where he spent the year behind senior Drew Olson (no relation) on the depth chart after missing the opener with a fractured hand. Olson played in five games in 2006, completing 63.7% of his passes for 822 yards, 6.63 yards per attempt, 5 TDs and 5 INTs. His season came to an end in the opening moments of his fifth start, when he tore a ligament. He did not regain the starting position that season. Olson was named starting quarterback for the 2007 season following the spring training.Chris Foster
"No Free Passes"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', August 5, 2007. However, he was again plagued by injuries and only played in 6 games, completing only 48.3% of his passes for 1040 yards, 7.08 yards per attempt, 7 TDs and 6 INTs. Entering the 2008 season, Olson was the presumptive starting quarterback after a career-ending knee injury to Patrick Cowan, the named starter during spring practice. However, on Saturday, August 9, Olson broke his right foot and was sidelined. X-rays taken the following day revealed the fracture, a repeat of an injury he had suffered during spring practice. The foot took longer than expected to heal and he finished his college football career without playing a game that year.

Post-collegiate career

After graduating from UCLA in 2008, Olson was invited to try out by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, but again broke his foot.Logan Cooley
"Former ESPN No. 1 recruit Ben Olson gives his perspective"
''The Daily Universe'' (Brigham Young University), October 10, 2014, retrieved September 13, 2022. He went un-drafted in the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

Personal

Ben is the son of Rick and Annie Olson and has one brother and three sisters. He married Andrea Anderson in May 2007.Brian Dohn and Scott Wolf
"Olson a new man since his marriage"
''

Press-Telegram The ''Press-Telegram'' is a paid daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Coverage area for the ''Press-Telegram'' includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, L ...

'', September 4, 2007, updated September 1, 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Ben 1983 births Living people American football quarterbacks BYU Cougars football players UCLA Bruins football players Players of American football from Thousand Oaks, California Sportspeople from Missoula, Montana American Latter Day Saints Sportspeople from Lehi, Utah Players of American football from Utah County, Utah American Mormon missionaries in Canada Thousand Oaks High School alumni