Remembering Alan

It was January 28, 2004, when then Police Captain Alan Olson was appointed as interim Chief of Police for the Ulysses Police Department, following the  resignation of Charles Gregory.

From the front page of the September 30, 2004, edition of The Ulysses News:

Ulysses City Councilmen emerged from executive session September 22, and voted to appoint Interim Police Chief Alan Olson as official Chief.

“Alan, we appreciate your help and honesty in stepping into a difficult situation,” said Mayor Ed Wiltse. “We have an excellent police force. Continue the good work!”

Olson had been the Police Investigator for the police department, as well as for the county. Before his service with Grant County, Olson had been a part-time sheriff's deputy in Kearny County and spent over two years as deputy with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department.

“I began as a patrol man, moved up to investigator and captain. I guess this is a natural progression,” said Olson about the decision to apply for the job, admitting it was a decision he had made with much thought.

“I liked what I was doing before,” he said. “But I am also ready for a change.”

The city had received at least seven applications from persons interested in the vacancy, however, “No one was more qualified than Alan.”

“Let’s not make this a big deal,” said Olson with a smile. “It’s business as usual. The departments working together, all of us providing quality service to the community, hopefully for a long time.”

At the City Council meeting May 9, 2012, Olson was appointed to the Interim City Administrator position.

“At this time, Olson will be the interim administrator until April of 2013, at which he has time to decide if he wants to stay at this position.”

At the City Council meeting January 27, 2021, Olson announced his resignation as Chief of Police, passing on the torch to Sergeant Ron Vagher.

After Olson’s passing, the Ulysses Police Department stated on Facebook, “The Ulysses Police Department is mourning the loss of Alan Olson. Alan was a great leader, mentor, friend, and colleague.”

From Olson’s obituary, “Alan worked for the City of Ulysses in various positions for 43 years, his duties included Detective and Chief of Police for the Ulysses Police Department. For 10 years he was the City Administrator of Ulysses. He was active in the community as a member of the Rotary International Club of Ulysses and was a part of two musical bands: Fulton Street Band and Clay Davenport Band. Other hobbies included woodworking, playing the drums, cooking, hunting, and camping.”

Personally, I want to thank Alan for welcoming me unconditionally since I was hired at The Ulysses News. I remember one of my first Chamber Coffee meetings, I believe it was hosted at the Chamber of Commerce office, I was standing by myself as a shy new news reporter with no networking experience.

Alan came up to me and said, “Newsboy, what’cha in for?” This started an unforgettable conversation about music and instruments, and I ended up getting recruited to fill in on the bass guitar with The Clay Davenport Band.

In and out of my City Council news reporting duties, Alan would take the time to visit me in person, send a text, or give the occasional phone call to fill me in on various details for my stories.

Alan always had a way of taking a quick second to hold up a “peace and love” sign whenever he saw me. I will absolutely miss hearing him name me a, “fellow hippie,” due to our long hair.

Alan, thank you so much for all you have done with this community, the projects that are upcoming that you curated, and your legacy continuing on in Ulysses’ future.

Peace, Love, and Rock n’ Roll to you, friend.