Drew Olson is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

sportscaster from

Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 38,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most-populous village in Wisconsin. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. ...

. He attended the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. Olson was host of

WAUK WAUK (540 AM broadcasting, AM) is a progressive talk radio station city of license, licensed to Jackson (village), Wisconsin, Jackson, Wisconsin, and serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Branded ''The Sha 101 FM'', a reference to the statio ...

540 ESPN's "The D-List," which aired weekdays from 10AM-1PM and featured Dan Needles, the longtime Sports Director at WISN-TV. Needles and Olson also co-host "Big 12 Sports Saturday with 540 ESPN," a weekly TV show that airs on Milwaukee's ABC-TV affiliate at 6:30 p.m. Saturday during football season. In 2016, Olson joined

WOKY WOKY (920 kHz, "Fox Sports 920") is a commercial AM radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It is one of two sports radio stations owned by iHeart in Milwaukee. WRNW focuses on Wisconsin-based sports shows, while WO ...

/The Big 1070

WTSO WTSO (1070 AM broadcasting, AM, "1070 The Game") is a commercial radio station in Madison, Wisconsin, known as "1070 The Game." The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc., and airs a sports radio radio format, format. The offices a ...

, where he hosts The Drew Olson Show and is a contributor on the Mike Heller Show. In addition to his broadcast work, Olson served as senior editor/columnist for the radio station's website
ESPNWisconsin.com
Olson was also a frequent contributor on the

Bob and Brian ''Bob and Brian'' is a talk radio show broadcast from WHQG in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Topics of discussion include politics, celebrity gossip, and sports, along with the random daily events. The show broadcasts weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:0 ...

morning show on

WHQG WHQG (102.9 FM, "102.9 The Hog") is a commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It airs a mainstream rock radio format and is owned by Saga Communications, operating as part of its Milwaukee Radio Group. WHQG is a Class B FM station, ...

The Hog to discuss

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

baseball. He also works occasionally as a sideline reporter for Fox Sports Wisconsin during Milwaukee Brewers broadcasts.

Early life

Olson grew up in

and graduated from

Menomonee Falls High School Menomonee Falls High School is a four-year public high school located in the village of Menomonee Falls in Waukesha County, Wisconsin in the United States. It is a part of the Menomonee Falls School District. The district (and therefore the h ...

in 1984. Olson won five varsity letters in basketball and track at

Menomonee Falls Menomonee Falls is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 38,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most-populous village in Wisconsin. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. ...

. Olson then attended the

and earned a B.S. degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

in 1988. Olson played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

for the

men's basketball team for one semester and often jokes about how desperate the program was at the time. Pulled out of the intramural ranks to be the 10th man on a 10-man squad, Olson was rewarded with varsity letter for his efforts even though he barely played for the Panthers and did not score a basket. "I was easily the most important guy on the team," he joked, "without me they wouldn't have had enough guys to scrimmage."

Time at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Olson began working at the

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...

in college and spent 19 1/2 years at the paper, almost all of it in the sports department. Olson had numerous beats at the paper before being named the

beat writer, which he held for 11 years. Olson was named the president of the

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines, and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908 and is known fo ...

in 2004, after serving as vice president the previous year. He served as an official scorer for the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee and the 2004 contest in Houston. As a 10-year member of the BBWAA, Olson maintained his Hall of Fame vote when he left the paper and was reinstated as an active member in the BBWAA prior to the 2012 season.

OnMilwaukee.com

Olson joined OnMilwaukee.com on May 1, 2006, to be the senior editor and sportswriter for the online magazine. Olson also had done freelance work for The Sporting News, Baseball America, Sports Illustrated and numerous other publications but it was his first full-time job at an outlet other than The Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.OnMilwaukee.com - Milwaukee's Daily Magazine
/ref> He left OnMilwaukee.com in Sept. 2010 to join Good Karma Broadcasting full-time.

Time at WAUK

After appearing on multiple radio outlets as a Brewers/baseball expert, Olson teamed with Needles on a Saturday morning show in the summer of 2004 and kicked off "The D-List" on Jan. 3, 2005. When the show began, Needles' participation was limited by WISN-TV management and Olson worked with a variety of co-hosts including local broadcasters like Bob Brainerd, Daron Sutton and others. Olson is considered the leader of the show, often moderating the segments and arguing with Needles, whom he first met in the late 1980s. Olson and Needles began "Big 12 Sports Saturday with 540 ESPN" on Aug. 20, 2011. The show, which airs before ABC's primetime college football broadcast, is a breezy 30-minute affair that analyzes the next day's Green Bay Packers game and features a "Stump Rainman" trivia segment, debate and coverage of other sports. Olson also serves as a fill-in host for WAUK broadcasts such as "Extra Innings," a Brewers postgame show and Marquette University basketball pre- and post-game shows. is known for turning any subject or any sport into

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

or the

. Also has an extensive knowledge of music and describes himself as "one of the worst guitarist in garage-band history." His college bands included "Proof of Purchase," and "The Lonely Guys."

References

External links

* http://www.onmilwaukee.com * http://www.espnwisconsin.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Drew 1966 births Living people American sports announcers American sports radio personalities University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni People from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Milwaukee Journal Sentinel people