Don Olson & Sylvia Olson-Christensen

Sylvia Olson-Christensen and her late husband Don Olson are the only couple to receive the Minnesota Broadcasters Association’s Pioneer Broadcaster award. He entered the broadcasting business in 1949, working as an accountant at KTRF Thief River Falls. He soon became involved in all aspects of the operation, and he and three associates purchased the station in 1954. She joined the station in 1960, hosting “Sylvia’s Coffee Time” for 22 years. Their son Jim also entered the business, and is now a television news anchor. They put KOSN FM, a companion but separately programmed FM station, on the air in 1976, and operated and managed the stations until they sold them and retired in 1982. Both were active in community affairs. He served as a county commissioner and as president of the Minnesota Association of Counties, and she has been active in many school, church, and community organizations. He died in 1992.