Ken Olsen

Kenneth Harry Olsen was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and grew up in the neighboring town of Stratford, Connecticut. His father's parents came from Norway and his mother's parents from Sweden. Olsen began his career working summers in a machine shop. Fixing radios in his basement gave him the reputation of a neighborhood inventor.

After serving in the United States Navy between 1944 and 1946, Olsen attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned both a BS (1950) and an MS (1952) degree in electrical engineering.Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, Shaping the Waves: A History of Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, p. 108. {{ISBN|978-1-59139-813-4}}.

During his studies at MIT, the Office of Naval Research of the United States Department of the Navy recruited Olsen to help build a computerized flight simulator.The citation says Air Force/back then was part of something else. {{cite web

|website=The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF)

|url=https://www.invent.org/inductees/kenneth-h-olsen

|title=NIHF Inductee Kenneth Olsen Invented Magnetic Core Memory

|quote=While at MIT, Olsen was recruited by the Air Force to help build a computerized flight simulator

|access-date=August 17, 2021}} Also while at MIT, he directed the building of the first transistorized research computer, the TX-0. Olsen was an engineer who had been working at MIT Lincoln Laboratory on the TX-2 project.{{Cite book

|title=Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation

|last=Sito |first=Tom |publisher=The MIT Press |year=2013 |isbn=9780262019095 |location=Cambridge, MA |page=38}}

Olsen's most important connection to Project Whirlwind was his work on the Memory Test Computer (MTC), described as "a special purpose computer built to test core memory for the Whirlwind."{{cite magazine

|magazine=HARDCOPY |author=Larry Watkins |title=A DEC History of Minicomputers

|quote=Whirlwind ... from a historical standpoint .. people are a very important factor .. Ken Olsen .. Ben Gurley

|date=May 1982 |pages=12–19}} Unlike the 18-bit TX-0, which was "designed to be a predecessor for a larger 36 bit machine, the TX-2," Whirlwind and the MTC used 16 bits.

In 1957, Olsen and an MIT colleague, Harlan Anderson, decided to start their own firm. They approached American Research and Development Corporation, an early venture capital firm, which had been founded by Georges Doriot, and founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) after receiving $70,000 for a 70% share. In the 1960s, Olsen received patents for a saturable switch, a diode transformer gate circuit, an improved version of magnetic-core memory, and the line printer buffer.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} (The MIT professor Jay W. Forrester is generally credited with inventing the first practical magnetic-core memory).

Olsen was known throughout his career for his management style and his fostering of engineering innovation. Olsen's valuing of innovation and technical excellence spawned and popularized techniques such as engineering matrix management, that are broadly employed today throughout many industries.See [http://www.decconnection.org/kensleadership.htm remarks by Win Hindle about Ken's leadership]. Olsen valued humility, driving an economy car and keeping a simple office in an old mill building. He also was an accomplished pilot and flew his own plane.{{cite magazine

|last1=Petre

|first1=Peter

|title=AMERICA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/10/27/68216/ |website=CNN FORTUNE Magazine archive

|publisher=CNN

|access-date=18 June 2021

}}

In 1977, referring to computers used in home automation at the dawn of the home computer era, Olsen is quoted as saying "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."{{cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0%2C3253%2Cl%3D259624%26a%3D259624%26po%3D3%2C00.asp|title=10 Most Memorable Tech CEOs of the Digital Era|work=PCMAG|access-date=27 March 2016|archive-date=12 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312042337/http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0%2C3253%2Cl%3D259624%26a%3D259624%26po%3D3%2C00.asp|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/feb/09/ken-olsen-obituary|title=Ken Olsen obituary|author=Jack Schofield|work=the Guardian|date=9 February 2011 |access-date=27 March 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/01/the-25-craziest-things-ever-said-by-tech-ceos/spam-crisis|title=The Spam Crisis Solved? - The 25 Craziest Things Ever Said by Tech CEOs - Complex|author=Alex Bracetti|date=14 January 2013|work=Complex|access-date=27 March 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/868.html|title=Quote Details: Ken Olsen: There is no reason... - The Quotations Page|work=The Quotations Page|access-date=27 March 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/false-predictons-2012-5?op=1|title=False Predictions - Business Insider|author=Ashley Lutz|date=2 May 2012|work=Business Insider|access-date=27 March 2016}} Olsen admitted to making the remark, even though he says his words were taken out of context and he was referring to computers set up to control houses, not PCs. According to Snopes.com, "the out-of-context misinterpretation of Olsen's comments is considered much more amusing and entertaining than what he really meant, so that is the version that has been promulgated for decades now".{{cite web |title=Ken Olsen |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ken-olsen/ |website=Snopes.com |date=27 September 2007 |publisher=Snopes |access-date=14 January 2019}}

In 1986, Fortune Magazine named Olsen "America's most successful entrepreneur",The war lost, Digital surrenders Boston Globe, January 27, 1998, p.c1. and the same year he received the IEEE Engineering Leadership Recognition Award.{{cite web|url=http://www.ieee.org/documents/weber_rl.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619230236/http://ieee.org/documents/weber_rl.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 19, 2010 |title=IEEE Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership Recognition Recipients |publisher=IEEE |access-date=November 21, 2010}} Olsen was the subject of a 1988 biography, The Ultimate Entrepreneur: The Story of Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation written by Glenn Rifkin and George Harrar.

In 1993, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers awarded Olsen their IEEE Founders Medal.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

He was inducted as a Fellow of the Computer History Museum in 1996. He was awarded the Vermilye Medal in 1980. He was inducted as an Honorary Member of UPE (the International Honor Society for the Computing and Information Sciences) on October 8, 1975.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

In 2011, he was listed at #6 on the MIT150 list of the top 150 innovators and ideas from MIT for his work on the minicomputer.{{Cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/education/higher/specials/mit150/mitlist/?page=2|title=The MIT 150|work=Boston.com|access-date=2017-04-10|language=en}}

Commencing in 1987, Olsen in public appearances described UNIX as "snake oil".{{cite news |last=Gibson |first=Stanley |date=April 4, 1988 |title=Olsen Poses Slick Question |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9uTEc6MJ6cC&q=olsen+%22snake+oil%22&pg=PP43 |work=ComputerWorld | volume=XXII | issue=14 | page=43 | access-date=2017-08-06 }} Some believed he was making a general characterization of UNIX, while others believed he was specifically referring to its marketing exaggerating its benefits.{{cite news | title=UNIX: DEC's Flavor of the Year | last=Johnson | first=Maryfran | work=Computerworld | date=February 11, 1991 | page=91 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVbHwWCfTBAC&q=olsen+snake+oil+unix+marketing&pg=PA91 | volume=XV | issue=6 | access-date=2017-08-06 }} While Olsen believed VMS was a better solution for DEC customers and often talked of the strengths of the system, he did approve and encourage an internal effort to produce a native BSD-based UNIX product on the VAX line of computers called Ultrix. However, this line never got enthusiastic comprehensive support at DEC.{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}}

Olsen was forced to retire from DEC, stepping down as president in 1992.{{Cite news|last1=Marquard|first1=Bryan|last2=Bray|first2=Hiawatha|date=2011-02-08|title=Computer pioneer Ken Olsen dies|work=Boston.com|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/02/08/computer_pioneer_ken_olsen_dies/|access-date=2020-06-15}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/technology/business-computing/08olsen.html |title=Ken Olsen, Who Built DEC Into a Power, Dies at 84 |newspaper = The New York Times | date=February 2011}} He subsequently became the chairman of Advanced Modular Solutions. Olsen was also a major contributor to The Family, a religious and political organization.{{cite web |url=http://www.harpers.org/archive/2003/03/0079525 |title=Jesus plus nothing: Undercover among America's secret theocrats |newspaper=Harpers Magazine |first=Jeff |last=Sharlet |date=March 2003}}

Olsen was a trustee of Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.{{cite web|url=http://www.decconnection.org/KOTribute.htm|title=Digital|work=decconnection.org|access-date=27 March 2016}} There, the Ken Olsen Science Center was named after him in 2006,{{cite web |url=http://www.gordon.edu/article.cfm?iArticleID=108&iReferrerPageID=5&iPrevCatID=30&bLive=1 |title=Salute to Ken Olsen — Gordon Hosts Tribute to Massachusetts Technology Icon |publisher=Gordon College}} and dedicated on 27 September 2008. Its lobby features a Digital Loggia of Technology, documenting Digital's technology and history, and an interactive kiosk to which former employees have submitted their stories.

Olsen died while in hospice care in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 6, 2011, aged 84. Gordon College, where he was a trustee and board member, announced his death, but did not reveal the cause.{{cite news |url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2379648,00.asp |title=Computing Pioneer Ken Olsen Dead at 84 |publisher=PCMag.com |first=Chloe |last=Albanesius |date=February 8, 2011}} His family also did not comment on any details surrounding his death.

• 1993: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1993 awarded Olsen the IEEE Founders Medal.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}
• 1996: The Computer History Museum in 1996 named Olsen a Museum Fellow "for his introduction of the minicomputer and co-founding of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)."{{Cite web |title= Ken Olsen — CHM Fellow Award Winner |author= CHM |url= http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/bios/Ken,Olsen/ |access-date= March 30, 2015 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150403185414/http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/bios/Ken,Olsen/ |archive-date= April 3, 2015 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/bios/Ken,Olsen/ |title=Ken Olsen | Computer History Museum |access-date=2015-03-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403185414/http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/bios/Ken,Olsen/ |archive-date=2015-04-03 }}
• 1999: Olsen was elected to the American Philosophical Society{{Cite web |title=APS Member History

|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Kenneth+H.+Olsen&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=August 17, 2021 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}

• Digital Federal Credit Union

{{refs}}

• Rifkin, Glenn The ultimate entrepreneur: the story of Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation. Prima Publishing, 1990. {{ISBN|1-55958-022-4}}
• Earls, Alan R. Digital Equipment Corporation. Arcadia Publishing, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-7385-3587-6}}
• Schein, Edgar H. DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC: The Lasting Legacy of Digital Equipment Corporation Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2004. {{ISBN|978-1-57675-305-7}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060830064940/http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/comphist/olsen.html 1988 Transcript of an Oral History Interview with Ken Olsen]
• [http://www.economicadventure.org/decision/olsen.pdf Ken Olsen], New England Economic Adventure
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110208045451/http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2011/02/07/daily16-Ken-Olsen-co-founder-of-DEC-died-at-84.html Ken Olsen, co-founder of DEC, dies at 84], Mass High Tech
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110714170712/http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/020711-kenneth-olsen-dec-obit.html?hpg1=bn DEC co-founder Kenneth Olsen mourned by computer industry] Network World
• [http://www.sigcis.org/files/Goodwin_paper.pdf DEC : The mistakes that led to its downfall] Birbeck College, University of London

• [http://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/bak00767/catalog Kenneth H. Olsen Collection] at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.

{{Digital Equipment Corporation}}

{{IEEE Founders Medal}}

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Category:1926 births

Category:2011 deaths

Category:Businesspeople from Bridgeport, Connecticut

Category:Digital Equipment Corporation people

Category:Computer hardware engineers

Category:MIT School of Engineering alumni

Category:National Medal of Technology recipients

Category:American computer businesspeople

Category:American people of Norwegian descent

Category:MIT Lincoln Laboratory people

Category:20th-century American businesspeople

Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society