Representative Arnold Olsen

Arnold Olsen (December 17, 1916 – October 9, 1990) was a U.S. Democratic politician who served as Attorney General of Montana from 1949 to 1957 and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Montana’s 1st congressional district from 1961 to 1971. Over five consecutive terms in Congress, he represented Montana during a pivotal era in American history, contributing to the legislative process and the representation of his constituents in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Olsen was born in Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana, on December 17, 1916, to Anna (née Vennes) and Albert Olsen, both Norwegian immigrants. He was educated in the Butte public schools and went on to attend the Montana School of Mines from 1934 to 1936. He then studied law at the Montana State University Law School in Missoula (now the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana), graduating in 1940. That same year he was admitted to the bar and opened a private law practice, beginning a legal career that would underpin his later public service.

With the onset of World War II, Olsen entered the United States Navy, serving four years of overseas duty during the conflict. While on shore leave in August 1942, he married Margaret Mary Williams of Butte, Montana. The couple had three children: Margaret Rae Olsen, Anna Kristine Olsen, and Karin Synneve Olsen Billings. Their family later grew to include five grandchildren—John-David Childs, Todd Arnold Graetz, Kara Ann (Graetz) Trapp, Jonathan Olsen Billings, and Luke Alexander Billings—and three great-grandchildren, Victoria Graetz and Sawyer and Ella Olsen Trapp, reflecting Olsen’s deep roots and enduring family ties in Montana.

After returning from military service, Olsen resumed his law practice and soon entered statewide politics. In 1948 he was elected Attorney General of Montana and took office in 1949. He was re-elected in 1952, serving as the state’s chief legal officer until 1957. Rather than seek another term as attorney general, he ran for governor in 1956. He narrowly defeated former Governor John W. Bonner in the Democratic primary and advanced to the general election against incumbent Republican Governor J. Hugo Aronson. Following a close, hard-fought campaign, Olsen was narrowly defeated by Aronson. Undeterred, he subsequently sought judicial office, running for Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, but lost by a slim margin to the incumbent Chief Justice, James T. Harrison.

Olsen’s congressional career began in 1960, when Representative Lee Metcalf chose to run for the United States Senate rather than seek re-election from Montana’s 1st congressional district. Olsen ran for the open House seat as a Democrat and defeated Republican nominee George P. Sarsfield in the general election, winning his first of five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He took office on January 3, 1961, and served continuously until January 3, 1971. During this decade, which encompassed the Kennedy, Johnson, and early Nixon administrations, Olsen participated in the democratic process at the national level, representing the interests of his Montana constituents amid major developments in civil rights, social policy, and foreign affairs. He was narrowly re-elected over Republican Wayne Montgomery in 1962 and won a wider victory over Montgomery in 1964. In 1966, he defeated Republican Dick Smiley by roughly two thousand votes, and in a 1968 rematch with Smiley he prevailed by a larger margin, underscoring his continued electoral strength in a competitive district.

In 1970, Olsen sought a sixth term in Congress but was narrowly defeated by Richard G. Shoup, the Republican mayor of Missoula. He challenged Shoup again in 1972 but was again unsuccessful. In 1974, Olsen made one final bid for Congress; however, he lost the Democratic primary to Max Baucus, who went on to defeat Shoup in the general election and later became one of Montana’s longest-serving members of Congress. Olsen’s decade in the House, from 1961 to 1971, thus marked the peak of his federal legislative career, during which he consistently engaged in the legislative work of the chamber and the representation of Montana’s 1st district.

Following his congressional service, Olsen returned to Montana and continued his public career in the judiciary. In 1977, Governor Thomas Lee Judge appointed him to the bench of the Second Judicial District of Montana, which includes his hometown of Butte. He was elected to that post in 1979 and re-elected two additional times, serving as a district judge from his appointment in 1977 until his death in 1990. In this role he presided over a wide range of civil and criminal matters, drawing on his extensive experience as an attorney, attorney general, and legislator.

Arnold Olsen died on October 9, 1990, while still serving on the Second Judicial District Court. His career spanned private law practice, wartime military service, statewide executive office, five terms in the United States House of Representatives, and more than a decade on the state trial bench, leaving a long record of service to the people and institutions of Montana.