Evan Olson

Evan Scott Olson (born 1967) is an American rock singer and songwriter based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Professionally known since the early 2000s for his work as a songwriter for film and television, Olson received renewed interest in his earlier independent recording when one of his songs was the subject of a musical mystery featured on the podcast Reply All.

Early life Evan Scott Olson was born in West Point, New York during the “Summer Of Love.” His father was an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers. After moving from base-to-base for the first 12 years of his life, Olson's father retired and settled the family in North Carolina. In 1986 Olson enrolled at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he earned a degree in psychology.

After Majosha, Olson and Ben Folds briefly formed the trio Pots and Pans with guitarist Britt "Snüzz" Uzzell before Folds departed to start his own Ben Folds Five who would go on to record some of Majosha's material cowritten by Olson. Meanwhile, Olson and Uzzell recruited Eddie Walker and Chuck Folds for their new project, initially called Straight Ahead. For legal reasons they soon changed the band's name to Bus Stop and went on to release two albums of songs. In 1992 Bus Stop entered and won Dick Clark's USA Music Challenge contest.

Career

In the late 1990s Olson took to recording all of his own songs as a solo artist at home, playing and multitracking each instrument himself. A demo recording garnered him a deal with Universal Music who released his home demos as the album One Room in 1999. After Universal gave the album limited promotion and pushed back its release date, label representatives asked Olson to bolster sales through word-of-mouth marketing before eventually dropping him as an artist.

While still in Bus Stop, Olson had started working with advertising production company Radio Kings through which he wrote jingles for Hershey's chocolates, Mercedes-Benz, and other smaller companies. With LoveCat's backing, Olson wrote, performed and produced his songs for Sex and the City, Dawson's Creek, The American Embassy, Felicity, Third Watch, Just Deal, 90210, Friday Night Lights, In America, Scooby-Doo, Ugly Betty, One Tree Hill, My Boss's Daughter, Laguna Beach, Real Sex, and MTV's The Hills. In 2012, his song "Another Sunny Day" was featured in the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. Olson is also the main composer for the show Tech Toys 360, on Velocity TV, In revealing the identity of "So Much Better"'s songwriter, the podcast episode revived listener interest in Olson's would-be hit beyond the limited airplay it had received back in the late 1990s. A subsequent uptick in plays on Spotify and YouTube prompted Universal Music to release Olson's 1999 album One Room on Apple Music.

Personal life

Olson was briefly married and divorced in the 1990s.

Discography

Solo albums One Room (Universal, 1999) Olson (LoveCat, 2000) All You Desire (2001) Red (LoveCat, 2002) Club Evos (LoveCat, 2003) Audio (LoveCat, 2004) Take the World (LoveCat, 2005) All the Way (as Able to Fly; LoveCat, 2006) Eternal Bliss (Explosive Entertainment, 2012) Evan Scott Olson (Independent, 2025)

With Majosha

Shut Up and Listen to Majosha (Fresh Avery Records, 1989)

With Bus Stop

Miracle Time (Ripe & Ready, 1992) A Little Faster (Ripe & Ready/AMP, 1995) Ball & Chain compilation (LoveCat, 2000)

Compilations A Day at the Beach soundtrack (2000) Pure Disco with a Touch of Funk (2006)

Singles "So Much Better" (Universal, 1999) "A Million Things" (Universal, 2000) "Everybody Loves Me" (LoveCat, 2008) "Another Sunny Day" (Explosive Entertainment, 2012) "Begin Again" (2016) "You're A Star" (2016) "Shine On Me" (w/ Jessica Mashburn, 2019) "My Christmas Angel" (2019) "Your Spell" (2019) "Summertime Groove" (2019) "Right Or Wrong" (2021)