Sigurd Olson

Sigurd F. Olson was an American author, environmentalist, and advocate for the protection of wilderness.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Olson grew up in northern Wisconsin where he developed his life-long interest in the outdoors. In June of 1921, Olson took his first canoe trip where he fell in love with the canoe country wilderness of northern Minnesota that would become the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (with his help). In August of that year, Olson married Elizabeth Dorothy Uhrenholdt, and the two spent their honeymoon on another canoe trip in the Boundary Waters. He worked as a canoe guide for J.C. Russell's outfitters on Fall Lake in Winton, Minnesota, before purchasing the business in 1929.

After studying agriculture, botany, geology, and ecology at Northland College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Illinois, Olson moved to Ely, Minnesota to teach at Ely Junior College, where he chaired the Science Department. He spent most of his life in the Ely area, working as a canoe guide during the summer months, teaching, and writing about the natural history, ecology, and outdoor life in and around the Boundary Waters. In 1974, Olson earned the John Burroughs Medal, the highest honor in nature writing.

Sigurd Olson died in 1982 of a heart attack while snowshoeing near his home.