Bio of OLSON, Floyd B. (b.1891), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol III, pg 317-318
FLOYD B. OLSON
Floyd B. Olson, filling the position of county attorney of Hennepin county, was
born in Minneapolis, November 13, 1891, and has been a lifelong resident of this
city. His parents were Paul and Ida (Nelson) Olson, the former a native of
Norway and the latter born in Sweden. They came to Minneapolis in 1885, and here
the father has been active in labor circles as president of the railway clerks'
union.
Floyd B. Olson was educated in the public schools, passing through consecutive
grades to the high school, after which he entered the State University of
Minnesota, in which he pursued a three years' course, being graduated from the
Minnesota College of Law with the LL. B. degree. He also devoted one year to an
academic course and following the completion of his law studies in 1915 he was
admitted to the bar. He entered upon practice independently, but in 1916 became
associated with the law firm of Larrabee, Davies & Olson, with whom he continued
until May, 1919, when he became one of the assistant county attorneys. In
September, 1920, he was appointed by the county commissioners of Hennepin county
to the office of county attorney and is the incumbent in that position. He was
elected to the office at the general election in November, 1922, receiving more
votes in Hennepin county than any other candidate for any office, state or
local. He is one of the youngest county officials in the Northwest and is said
to be the youngest prosecuting attorney in the United States in a city the size
of Minneapolis, for he is now but thirty-one years of age. He has tried many
cases of note, but perhaps the most conspicuous of these was the case of Mike
Weisman, the king of the underworld, who through Mr. Olson's prosecu­tion was
convicted but later was granted a repeal in the United States courts. This is
the fourth time he has been tried in the county. Mr. Olson deserves great credit
for his successful efforts in cleaning out the Gateway district, which was one
of the notorious places of the Northwest. He was successful in driving the
criminals from that section and making a respectable neighborhood of the place.
He is the only prosecutor in the United States who has succeeded in convicting
members of the Ku Klux Klan as such. He is indefatigable in his efforts to
advance law and order through the discharge of his official duties and his
labors have been attended by most com­mendable and admirable results. He belongs
to the Hennepin County Bar Association and also to the American Bar Association
and his course has found for him the high endorsement and commendation of his
contemporaries in law practice.
On the 20th of June, 1917, Mr. Olson was married to Miss Ada A. Krejci of
Minne­apolis, and they have become parents of a daughter, Bernice. Mr. Olson is
a thirty-second degree Mason, having become identified with the various bodies
of the Scottish Rite, and is also a member of Zuhrah Temple of the Mystic
Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Elks Club and to the Odin Club. In former
years he was a noted pedestrian, having hiked all over British Columbia and
Alaska, and he is one of the few white men who have piloted a scow boat through
the Grand Canyon of the Fraser river of British Columbia. During the war period
he was rejected for active field service on account of physical disability, but
became a member of the legal advisory board and served on two draft boards.
Politically he has always been a democrat, but is not active as a party worker
at the present time. During the last eight years his attention has been closely
confined to his profession and the duties of his office, which he is endeavoring
to discharge most faithfully and capably. He has written not a little for the
press and is now preparing articles on the causes and corrections of crime.
These articles are most illuminating material concerning the subject discussed
and his experience has enabled him to analyze the situation most adequately.