Knock! Knock! There was no response, and no light coming from underneath the door.
“Are you looking for Dr. Olson? He could be at his second office,” said student worker, Julissa Sandoval.
Dr. Olson is a man with two offices and has a passion for helping students, justifying his heavy involvement and recent appointment as director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics at Cal State Bakersfield.
“It results in terrible violence when people get into this us and them way of thinking. That’s important for me to have a space on campus and our community where we can kind of come together and have productive conversations about topics that can be difficult topics,” said Olson.
Olson strongly believes exactly that, that the KIE is a place for difficult conversations. He has served as the Interim director of the KIE since 2023, but has been involved since his arrival in 2015.
“Dr. Olson has a knack for bringing people together for productive discussion, even when they disagree. He has devoted much of his professional career to creating opportunities for diverse perspectives to come to the table to think deeper about how engaging in ethics can impact our ever-changing world,” said Associate Director of the KIE, Dr. Florez.
Another instance in which he helps people together is through his involvement in the Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Partnership Fellowship.
The ICDP recruits a cohort of students which participate in a year-long fellowship that allows them to develop the skills to hold difficult and meaningful conversations.
They most recently attended a retreat to Harvard University, where Olson shared that they got caught in a snowstorm.
“ …our cohort was unfortunately stranded in Boston due to a winter storm and while many of us were quick to share our fears and frustrations, Dr. Olson’s smile never once faded (even after countless flight delays and cancellations). I think this is something that really speaks to Dr. Olson’s character, his lighthearted and positive attitude provides a sense of comfort to students both in and out of the classroom,” wrote Zaina Farraj, ICDP student, over email.
Additionally, Olson also serves as the chair of the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department.
His love for ethics and philosophy comes from a child-like curiosity about the world.
“I was always kind of interested in just kind of questions about the world around me. I mean philosophy is all about just asking lots of questions about everything,” said Olson.
Olson credits his grandfather, Eugene Fevold, as inspiring him to see teaching at an institution of higher education as a career. He describes visiting his office full of books as striking his interest.
“I have a grandfather who was a professor [of religion at a seminary] and I remember going to his office when I was a kid and thinking ‘Oh, this is interesting!’ …I really looked up to my grandfather,” said Olson.
Olson, who grew up in the working-class town of Richfield, MN, attended college at St. Olaf College where he double majored in English and philosophy.
After graduating from St. Olaf, Olson taught middle school English at a rural Louisiana school for two years, before entering a Ph.D. program at Georgetown University.
He credits living all across the country and even his time studying abroad in Cuba allowing him to be exposed to so many different types of people and ideas.
Olson is glad to be in Bakersfield, as he finds it to be a “welcoming community” and a great place to raise a family.
Olson can be found in either of his offices in the Humanities Office Building or in the KIE, surrounded by books, ideas and questions; where his devotion to students is recognized through conversation.
