Longtime Milwaukee journalist Jon Nels Olson, dies at 63

Jon Nels Olson, a longtime reporter and editor who lived in Milwaukee, died on on Thursday, May 19, 2022, of complications from Myotonic Dystrophy following a fall from his bicycle during the previous month. He was 63.

Jon Nels Olson

Olson was born on July 7, 1958, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended St. Olaf College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in mathematics. He married his wife, Julia, in 1985.

Olson began his career as the editor of the Middleton Times-Tribune before moving in to work as a reporter and associate editor of The Business Journal. He also produced the television show Business of Wisconsin. He worked as a business reporter for the Milwaukee Journal from 1991 to 1995 and then as a copy editor from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel from 1995 to 2009.

He also was published by The Antioch Review and wrote two novels, The Petoskey Stone and The Ride Home.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 25, at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 1100 N. Astor St., Milwaukee. A livestream link for the service will be posted on the Heritage Funeral Homes tribute page.

» Read the obituary

Wisconsin Newspaper Association