21 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org Member Spotlight to be engineers, but one was traditionally a survey position,” says Olson, “Although the person rarely had been a practicing surveyor, he just happened to have a survey license but really practiced as an engineer.” He spent 10 years on the Board of Registration after that. “We ended up changing the law to get two surveying members on the board and I agreed to be one of those so the engineers didn't lose any representation,” he says. Over the years he got further involved in local government and in Clark County and was named the Land Development Council Chairman for the homebuilders, among other positions he has held, although he never actually ran for any elected offices. In about ‛97, he was appointed to the Washington State Survey Advisory Board. In 2007, he was asked to become a director of Riverview Community Bank, which is publicly traded on the NASDAQ. “I’m still there, but I’m finishing that up this year and still working and trying to slow down,” he says. Whatever work he might do outside the home might slow down but work on his property where he lives with his wife won't slow down any time soon. He and his wife, Patti, have lived on a 170-acre tree farm by Mount Saint Helens for the last 42 years. He says it doesn’t actually take a lot of work—“I mostly just let the trees grow,” he says. Patti has been a competitive horse rider, which is something she still does regularly. They also have a dog, a cat, and some chickens. Being a member of the PLSO and LSAW since the ‘70s has helped his career over the years, he says, and he has benefitted throughout all the positions he has held from the networking and connections he's been able to gain by being a member. “I nearly always go to the conventions, and I'm friends with a lot of people in the organizations,” he says. “I have advocated for interaction across the state boundary because we all have the same issues. And we compete in each other’s turf.” Olson says 50 years goes by so quickly. He is able to admit now that he had some indecision when he went to college, but he also realized that most people don’t knowwhat they’re really going to do when they go to school. “You start dabbling and taking courses and something piques your interest,” he says. “Fortunately, I discovered what I wanted to do early enough, that it didn’t cost me any extra years in school, and I’ve had a career that I’ve certainly enjoyed.” In about 1984 in Columbia County, Oregon, Jerry Olson’s office duties finally forced him to mostly abandon field work. He spent a lot of time on woods surveys chasing down original evidence for many years.
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