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W
hen he left Augus-
tana College in 1983
armed with a degree
in political science and a minor
in Spanish he really didn’t want
a career in politics or Spanish.
But he didn’t know what he was
going to do, either.
It wasn’t long, though, before
the Peoria native found him-
self on a career path pursuing
his greatest love, aviation. And
now, at age 50, he is in what he
calls his dream job — managing
a midsized airport in a city he
loves.
“With all I have in life, be-
tween my family and my career,
I consider myself a very lucky
man. This is where I want to be
and where I want to stay,” said
Olson, who became director of
the Wayne R. Downing Peoria
International Airport in June
2009. He replaced Ken Spirito,
who left Peoria after three years
to take a similar job at a larger
airport.
“That’s one of the things the
Airport Authority pushed me on
during my interview for this job:
Would I simply be using the job
as a stepping stone to a bigger
airport. I told them no, which is
the truth. I don’t want to be on
a career path to be the director
of the airport in Indianapolis or
anyplace else. I would like to
stay here as long as the job stays
challenging and the board wants
me,” Olson said recently.
“If that’s the rest of my career,
that would be fine with me. I’m
back where I grew up, where my
parents and other family still live,
and doing a job I love. I consider
this my dream job,” he said.
“This has been a very good
move for me, for the family.
The job has been wonderful, it
has been fun reconnecting with
people I’ve known most of my
life, and it’s just a lot of fun being
able to do something that helps
your hometown,” he said.
Among those he has recon-
nected with was Col. William P.
Robertson, commander of the
182nd Airlift Wing based at the
Peoria airport. “We went to high
school together and knew each
other, but neither of us knew the
other was interested in aviation
until we reconnected recently,”
he said.
The tall, slender Olson is a
pleasant conversationalist and
it doesn’t take long to realize he
is expert in his field. But it’s not
only because it is his job to be
knowledgeable about aviation;
it’s also because aviation is his
passion.
“It has been my passion since I
was a kid,” Olson said. His father
Mel Olson, a retired Caterpillar
Inc. engineer, flew Piper Cubs
when he lived in Holland and
had his own interest in flying. For
that reason he often took Gene
and his siblings to the Peoria
airport on Sundays. They would
have breakfast, then watch planes
come and go from the observa-
tion deck connected to the old
terminal.
Although his father didn’t
fly planes after returning to the
United States, the Olson children
did get to actually fly. “Dad
would take us to the old Waddell
Airport (now Manito Mitchell
Airport) where they would have
fly-ins and drive-ins, like an open
house. They used to give airplane
rides for 50 cents a head and a
penny a pound. It was around
$5.25 for three of us. Then we’d
go over to one of the hangars and
eat free watermelon. Back then I
wasn’t sure which I liked better.
“You do that kind of thing very
often and aviation gets under
the skin,” he said. “That was the
spark that lit the fire for me.”
An alumnus of Peoria High
School who lettered on the swim
team, Olson had his first flying
lesson while still in high school.
His parents didn’t know he was
going to do it, however. He’d
saved his money to pay for the
lesson and told them about it
after the fact, sitting at the dinner
table that same evening.
He didn’t fly again for a while,
but eventually obtained his
pilot’s license in 1987. He thought
at one point of being a flight
Smooth
Landing
Gene Olson shows
‘You can come home again’
By Paul Gordon
Personal Profile
36
thePeorian.com
“That was the
spark that lit the
fire for me.”