Mary E. Olson

Mary E. Olson (died 13 November 1953) was an American teacher and Methodist missionary active in British Malaya. She headed the Methodist Girls' School and the Fairfield Methodist Girls' School in Singapore, as well as the Methodist Girls' School in Penang.

Early life and education Olson, who was of Swedish descent, was the daughter of a Methodist minister. She came from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Career Olson began teaching in Minneapolis in 1896. She then furthered her education in college. She enrolled in a six-month course at Hamline University, after which she became a missionary with the Minneapolis branch of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was appointed the principal of the Methodist Girls' School in Penang in place of fellow missionary Clara Martin, who had gone on emergency leave. Olson left for Penang on 1 August 1903, arriving on 3 October and taking over as principal the week after. The school was then located within a small building on Short Street. She continued to serve as principal until 1916 before she was again appointed the school's principal in 1918, holding this position until 1923. She again served as the school's principal in 1925. She was returned to Fairfield Girls' School as principal in 1934. The Olson Building, completed in 1928 on the campus of the Methodist Girls' School in Singapore, was named for her.