See Me After Class is a weekly column where a different professor reveals their variety favorites.
Dr. Eric Olson at the Collins College of Business is not just a professor and researcher but a friend to staff and students on campus. Since starting in 2019, Dr. Olson has taught Statistics II: Data Analytics, Financial Institutions and Markets and Regression and Statistical Learning. Additionally, he conducts research and publishes academic papers and books on economics and finance. This year, Dr. Olson has been using advanced and modern methods, such as artificial intelligence, when teaching his statistics students to make it unlike any other course. When he is not in the classroom, students can always find him in the faculty lounge in the library or Goldie’s Grounds in Helmerich Hall.
Outside of the classroom, Olson lives quite an exciting life. When he is not playing basketball or attending TU sporting events with his wife Lydia and their two children, Luke and Allie, he does anything and everything adventurous. His favorite activities include windsurfing, scuba diving, surfing, paragliding, skiing, kite surfing and more. He even volunteers at the Jenks Aquarium cleaning fish tanks just to get underwater. These were his favorite activities before having children, and now he gets to share them with his family. Additionally, Olson likes to travel, play board games or his kids’ favorite — attend TU soccer games. He and his kids’s’ favorite board games include chess, Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan and Battleship.
Even with his busy lifestyle, Olson still finds time for his first passion, music composition. He plays both the guitar and piano for his church on the weekends. Olson professed that he is quite a workaholic, so he spends much of his evenings and weekends researching and creating lesson plans for his courses. His research is conducted year-round, but he takes an annual break from academic writing in the summer to run the Cimba Italy Study Abroad Trip — a four-week program for business students in Paderno del Grappa, Italy. He brings his family along and enrolls his kids in Italian schooling for the trip. In between lessons, he has been known to teach his students how to surf and scuba dive and enjoy everything Italy offers.
Heading into the fall semester, Olson says he has been spending time with his family at events such as Disney on Ice, the Tulsa State Fair or watching football games and cheering on his alma mater, the University of Alabama. This does not stop him from attending every TU football game and tailgate. His favorite event is homecoming including the game, tailgates where he catches up with alums or other professors and his favorite event — the homecoming bonfire. You can find Olson at nearly every TU sporting event with his family and he urges students to attend more games.
As one of his current students, I would recommend taking one of Olson’s classes if given the chance. He is not only a great professor but teaches his classes outside skills to take onward into their careers and is overall a great person on campus to familiarize yourself with.
Dr. Eric Olsen started teaching at TU in 2019 and has continued to become a welcoming professor on campus. Courtesy of utulsa.edu
