Olson’s family em­i­grat­ed to Amer­i­ca in 1875. He at­tend­ed Au­gus­ta­na Coll­ege in Rock Is­land, Il­li­nois. He worked for Swed­ish news­pa­pers, and for a pub­lish­er in Chi­ca­go, then be­came ed­i­tor of the Au­gus­ta­na Book Con­cern (1911-1949). He wrote four orig­in­al hymns, and trans­la­ted al­most 30 more. He was a mem­ber of the Au­gus­ta­na Hymn­al Com­mit­tee, which pub­lished its Hymn­al and Or­der of Ser­vice in 1925, and was a mem­ber of the Joint Com­mis­sion on a Com­mon Hymn­al, which led to the pub­li­ca­tion of the Ser­vice Book and Hymn­al in 1958. In 1948, the King of Swe­den made Ol­son a knight of the Roy­al Or­der of Vasa.

Olson’s works in­clude:

• A History of the Swedes in Il­li­nois
• En Bok­han­dels­his­to­ria
• The History of the Au­gus­ta­na Book Con­cern: Pub­lish­ers to the Au­gus­ta­na Sy­nod, 1933

Sources

Hymns

1. Glorious Yuletide

Translations

1. All Hail to Thee, O Blessed Morn!
2. Children of the Heavenly Father (© 1925)
3. Jerusalem, Lift Up Thy Voice
4. Now Hail We Our Redeemer
5. O Lord, Give Ear unto Our Plea
6. Sign of the Cross, The