ABOUT
JOHN OLSEN
I grew up in the midwest section of the United States. My earliest passion was tennis. I played junior tennis tournaments in the Chicago area. That led me to the University where I played college tennis. I was not good enough to pursue tennis as a profession but it still is an important part of my life. I studied engineering and finished with a bachelor's degree and masters degree.
In the summers during my University years I taught tennis in the Chicago area. Which is where I met Joanne , as a student , who I fell in love with and married while in graduate school. Between us we have lived in Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Georgia, Florida, Texas, California, Paris , Arizona and Oregon. The time we spent in each location was wonderful.
My work life was centered in the tech arena , mostly in software. My talent was building teams and running companies. I have traveled to 62 countries, but have not visited anything close to that number. Many of my visits consisted of meetings in hotels close to airports. But the countries I have explored have contributed to my appreciation of the wonders of the world and its people.
Retired for a number of years my passions have turned to cycling, golf and photography. I love the challenge of cycling and participated in amateur races for a number of years. I was lucky enough to establish some connections in the professional cycling world and have viewed the Tour de France several times. Some of my favorite memories are riding with friends in the Tuscany area. Wonderful roads, great scenery and incredible food.
But my passion is photography. Early in life I was enthralled by the mountains of Colorado and the wildlife and scenery. My first real camera was a Canon AE-1. Loved the process of finding a scene and then trying to capture it as I remembered it. I have advanced in every way since then. Thanks to the people and organizations I have traveled and shot with Arizona Highways, Joel Grimes, Marc Meunch, David Meunch, Art Wolf, Jack Dykinga, Justin Black, Tom Mangelsen, Cecilia Costa, Richard Bernabe, Suzanne Mathia, Greg Vaughn and Wayne Suggs. Invaluable tutoring me in composition, light and processing. Each workshop, each image review, each experience with every one of them has been instrumental in my development as a photographer. Thanks to each of them. I am not now or will ever be a professional photographer, but I am passionate about improving constantly.
For years I have shared an image or two with friends or other photographers after trips. But I have never been able to show people where I have been, what I have seen and the images I have captured. This web site is entirely for that purpose.