Jonathan Olson

OBITUARY

Jonathan (Jon) passed away peacefully at home from pancreatic cancer. The son of Dr. and Mrs. Stanley J. Olson, he grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California where he attended The College Preparatory School and the University of California, Berkeley. He graduated from Cal in 1980 with a double major in Political Science and Development Studies. Following Cal, Jon attended the United States Navy’s Officer Candidate School, earning his commission in 1982.

A career Surface Warfare Officer, he served in the United States Navy from 1982 to 2003. Notable assignments ashore included two years as a staff officer at Allied Forces Southern Europe in Naples, Italy, and attendance at the U.S. Naval War College, where he received a Master’s Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. Multiple sea tours included serving as Division Officer aboard USS Goldsborough (DDG 20), Combat Systems Officer aboard USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), and Commanding Officer of USS Pioneer (MCM 9) and USS Sentry (MCM 3).

Following retirement from the Navy in 2003, Jon worked as a contractor supporting the range sustainability program for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and a move from San Diego to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2009 led to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service supporting the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program. As a Boy Scout in his youth, he developed a love of the outdoors, hiking and camping in the Sierras. Throughout his life, Jon enjoyed being in nature, highlighted by journeys on horseback through the Navajo reservations in Arizona and New Mexico with his uncle and cousins and by serving as Scoutmaster for his son’s Boy Scout Troop in Albuquerque.

All his life, Jon was most proud of his son, Ethan, who has followed in his father’s footsteps into service as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy. Jon is survived by his son Ethan, his brother George, his sister Celia and her sons, and numerous cousins with whom he has shared a close and loving relationship over many years.

A memorial service will held at Miramar National Cemetery, Mon., Oct. 19 11:30 a.m.