Robert E. Olson

Robert Eugene Olson (January 23, 1919 – August 11, 2011) was an American biochemist and physician who researched nutrition. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he held the editor position at both Nutrition Reviews and the Annual Review of Nutrition.

Early life and education Robert Eugene Olson was born in Minneapolis on January 23, 1919 to mother Minnie A. , a secretary at the University of Minnesota College of Agriculture, and Ralph W. Olson, who worked at a carpet business. His family descended from Swedish farmers in Värmland and Småland, with his grandparents immigrating to the United States in the mid-19th century. He was the eldest of three sons born to his parents. While attending South High School in Minneapolis, his interests included physics and electronics, and he was an amateur radio operator.

He attended Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota for his bachelor's degree, graduating in 1938. He then attended Saint Louis University School of Medicine for a PhD in biochemistry under the advisorship of Edward Adelbert Doisy, graduating in 1944. There, he succeeded Doisy as the chair of the biochemistry department in 1965, holding the position until 1982. From 1967 to 1977 he was the director of the Anemia and Malnutrition Center in Thailand where he researched malnutrition in children.

Awards and honors Olson was the first recipient of the McCollum Prize, awarded by the American Society of Nutrition.

Personal life and death In 1944, he became engaged to Catherine Silvoso, a nurse at a children's hospital in St. Louis. They married later that year when Olson arrived in St. Louis on break after finishing his basic training for the Navy. He died on August 11, 2011, in Boston at the age of 92.