Bob Olsen

Bob Olsen c, 1929

Alfred Johannes Olsen (April 12, 1884– May 20, 1956), better known under his pen name Bob Olsen, was an American science fiction writer.[1]

Biography

Olsen was the son of Norwegian immigrants, and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended Brown University, and achieved a Phi Beta Kappa and a masters in science. He later met his wife, Thula Crismon (1896-1957) in Salt Lake City, Utah while teaching science. He had five children, but one died at birth. His first son and first child was Bob Gilham Olsen, named after his father's pen name born 1919, his first daughter and second child was Zora Louise Olsen born 1923, their second daughter and third child was Joyzelle Kaza Olsen born in 1929, and their fourth child and second son was Kenneth Crimson Olsen born 1937.

He moved to California and started the Olsen Advertising Agency, all the while writing stories for magazines like "Amazing Stories". He built a home in Beverly Hills. Olsen often wrote humorous science fiction in Amazing Stories, from 1927 to 1936. He was one of the first writers to use the phrase "space marine".[2] His large hobby granted him fame through the world of science fiction in his day, but that wasn't enough to support a family. Ray Bradbury, just a teenager at the time, visited Bob Olsen often for mentorship, friendship, as well as simply a sharing of ideas.[3]

Bibliography

Olsen's novelette "Captain Brink of the Space Marines " was the cover story in the November 1932 Amazing Stories
Olsen's novelette "The Space Marines and the Slavers" was the cover story in the December 1936 Amazing Stories

Short stories

Poems

Other

References

  1. ↑ Everett Franklin Bleiler, Richard Bleiler (1998) Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Year (Kent State University Press, p. 312-317) ISBN 9780873386043
  2. ↑ Bob Olsen, Author June 24, 2015 (The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction)
  3. ↑ Ash, Brian (1978) Who's who in science fiction (Taplinger Publishing Company Page 159) ISBN 9780800882792

External links

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