Durango entrepreneur Arthur “Art” Julius Olson died suddenly of cardiac arrest Thursday while hiking with his wife, Lucy, on Animas Mountain. He was 77.
Olson, who had owned Durango Transportation Inc. for more than 30 years, also started one of the first bicycle shops in town, founded the first in-town packing and shipping company and owned the Durango Hostel for many years. He even owned Hesperus Ski Area for about a year.
Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, Olson coached and taught young people numerous recreational activities.
“He loved to do anything to get kids going,” his daughter, Joan Rhoades, said. “He was a flight instructor and started a lot of people, especially kids, flying.”
Olson insisted that all three of his children get their pilots’ licenses even before he had his own, she said. Rhoades went on to fly for United Airlines.
“I gave him his commercial rating,” she said. “Oh, and he sold Varga airplanes for a while, too.”
The active Art Olson is the person Eric Baker, 51, the new baseball coach at Durango High School, remembers.
“There were so many really cool things I got to do that I wouldn’t have gotten to do if it hadn’t been for Art,” he said. “Skateboarding, rock climbing; I started bike racing with him in grade school and junior high.”
Olson took young people on trips for bike races and ski races across the country, and Baker particularly remembered a bike race in Milwaukee.
Another favorite activity was fencing. Olson founded fencing groups in both Durango and Silverton, where he worked in mining for a time.
“He noticed that a bar was the right length for a fencing strip,” Rhoades said. “The next thing they knew, they were holding fencing tournaments.”
Active in the Civil Air Patrol, Olson was also an early founder of La Plata County Search & Rescue and a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for about 23 years. He was also a member of the Quiet Birdmen, a club for male aviators.
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