Dr. Reg A. Olson was born and raised in a small farming community in central British Columbia.  He received his B.Sc. (Honours geology) in 1968 from UBC, his M.Sc.  (economic geology) in 1971 from UWO, and his Ph.D. (economic geology) in 1977 from UBC. He practiced his profession as an exploration geologist continuously from 1965 to 2000, as a consulting geologist from the mid-1970s onward.  In early 2000, he joined the Alberta Geological Survey where he currently is senior advisor, mineral resources. 

He first joined CIM as a student member in 1967 and was awarded CIM Fellowship in 2003.  Dr. Olson is past chairman of the Edmonton Branch, has assisted with various CIM conferences, and most recently was co-general chairman for the highly successful CIM conference in 2004 in Edmonton. He also has long been a member of the Geological Society of CIM, and most recently was the 2004-2005 chairman of the Geological Society.