{{short description|American marine biologist and filmmaker}} thumb|right|Olson in 2010 '''Richard Randolph "Randy" Olson''' is a marine biologist-turned-filmmaker.<ref name="DER">{{cite web|url=http://www.der.org/films/filmmakers/randy-olson.html|access-date=2007-02-15|title=DER Filmmaker Randy Olson|work=Documentary Educational Resources }}</ref>
He has written and directed a number of short films and feature documentaries which have premiered at film festivals such as Tribeca Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival. Most of his films address major science issues such as the decline of the world's oceans, the controversy around the teaching of evolution versus intelligent design, and the attacks on global warming science.
==Early life== Olson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is the son of Colonel John Eric Olson.<ref name="DadObituary">{{Cite news |title=Colonel John E. Olson – Obituary |url=http://www.quiviran.com/2012/11/05/colonel-john-e-olson-obituary/ |work=The Quiviran |date=November 5, 2012}}</ref> When he was four years old his family moved to Hawaii, where they lived for four years. Olson credits his time near the ocean in these years with his eventual career as a marine biologist.<ref name="Dean">{{cite news |last1=Dean |first1=Cornelia |date=April 11, 2006 |title=Eager to tell the stories of science, a biologist evolves |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/11/science/sciencespecial2/11prof.html |access-date=14 July 2017 |work=New York Times}}</ref>
==Science career== After dropping out of the University of Kansas, Olson worked on an oceanographic project in Puerto Rico. Olson then returned to college at the University of Washington. There he got involved in marine biological research along the outer coast of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, spent a semester at Friday Harbor Marine Laboratory, and graduated with a B.A. in Zoology.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}
Olson received a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Harvard University in 1984.<ref name="Dean" /> His dissertation research took him to Australia in the early 1980s studying coral reef ecology on the Great Barrier Reef. While conducting his research, he spent an entire year living on Lizard Island on the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lizard Island Research Station newsletter|url=https://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/documents/9815/newsletter%201981-82%20lr.pdf|website=Australian Museum|date=1981–1982}}</ref>
In Townsville, Australia, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. He worked for the Australian government studying the problem of the crown-of-thorns starfish and its destructive effect on the Great Barrier Reef.<ref name="Dean"/>
In 1988 Olson was appointed a professor in the Zoology Department at the University of New Hampshire.<ref>{{cite web|title=Affiliates|url=https://amphora.asu.edu/mbl-data/institution/2411/|website=University Of New Hampshire|access-date=14 July 2017}}</ref> His research on the dispersal of larvae of marine organisms on coral reefs has been described as "some of the best work in that field".<ref name="Dean"/><ref name="Svane">{{cite journal|last1=Svane|first1=I.|last2=Young|first2=C. M.|title=The ecology and behaviour of ascidian larvae|journal=Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review|date=1989|volume=27|pages=45–90|url=https://fau.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fau%3A6555/datastream/OBJ/view|access-date=14 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="Young">{{cite journal|last1=Young|first1=C. M|title=Larval ecology of marine invertebrates: a sesquicentennial history|journal=Ophelia|date=1990|volume=32|issue=1–2|pages=1–48|url=https://fau.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fau%3A31833/datastream/OBJ/view/Larval_ecology_of_marine_invertebrates__a_sesquicentennial_history.pdf|access-date=14 July 2017|doi=10.1080/00785236.1990.10422023}}</ref><ref name="Randolph">{{cite journal|last1=Olson|first1=Richard Randolph|title=In situ culturing as a test of the larval starvation hypothesis for the crown-of-thoms starfish|journal=Limnology and Oceanography|date=July 1987|volume=32|issue=4|pages=895–904|doi=10.4319/lo.1987.32.4.0895|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Richard">{{cite journal|last1=Olson|first1=Richard Randolph|title=The Consequences of Short-Distance Larval Dispersal in a Sessile Marine Invertebrate|journal=Ecology|date=February 1985|volume=66|issue=1|pages=30–39|doi=10.2307/1941304|jstor=1941304|bibcode=1985Ecol...66...30O }}</ref> During his time at UNH Olson also produced several short films on marine life, such as ''Barnacles Tell No Lies'', ''Lobstahs'', and ''Salt of the Earth''. ''Salt of the Earth'' was shown on a local PBS station. After being awarded tenure in 1994, Olson took a leave of absence to attend film school, eventually resigning his scientific position.<ref name="Dean"/><ref name="Babine">{{cite web|last1=Babine|first1=Nancy L.|title=Dodos, Design and DNA|url=https://newenglandfilm.com/magazine/2007/02/dodos-design-and-dna|website=New England Film|date=February 1, 2007}}</ref>
==Film career== thumb|right|Olson answering the question, "It’s actually a very entertaining film, but also has a serious message about the need to communicate the dire effects of global warming. How did you try to get that message across?" with regards to ''Sizzle''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/audio/id/6/|title=A conversation with Randy Olson|last=Madison|first=Mark|publisher=USFWS|date=July 20, 2011|access-date=July 28, 2024}}</ref> Olson earned his M.F.A. from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1997.<ref name="USC">{{cite news|title=Earth Day Video to Debut on Youtube|url=https://news.usc.edu/32704/Earth-Day-Video-to-Debut-on-YouTube/|access-date=14 July 2017|work=USC News|date=April 22, 2009}}</ref> For his student film he wrote and directed the twenty-minute musical comedy short film, His student film, ''You Ruined My Career,'' premiered at the 1996 Telluride Film Festival in the "Filmmakers of Tomorrow" showcase.<ref name="DER"/>
In 2002, Olson and coral reef ecologist Jeremy Jackson of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, created a 7-minute short film, ''Rediagnosing the Oceans''.<ref name="Hoffner">{{cite news|last1=Hoffner|first1=Erik|title=An interview with climate mockumentary filmmaker Randy Olson|url=http://grist.org/article/olson/|access-date=14 July 2017|work=Grist|date=July 11, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Science|first=American Association for the Advancement of|date=2002-03-08|title=Ocean Rx|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.295.5561.1827c|journal=Science|language=en|volume=295|issue=5561|pages=1827|doi=10.1126/science.295.5561.1827c|s2cid=220082716 |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Olson expanded this work with the Shifting Baselines Ocean Media Project.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olson |first=Randy |date=2002-11-17 |title=Slow-Motion Disaster Below the Waves |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-17-op-olson17-story.html |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
Olson directed the feature documentary, ''Flock of Dodos,'' which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. The film focused on the “ongoing debate between evolutionary biologists and those who espouse intelligent design.”<ref>{{Cite web|title='Flock of Dodos' and the Debate over Intelligent Design|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5364401|access-date=2020-06-05|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref>
In 2008 Olson wrote and directed the mockumentary feature film, ''Sizzle'',<ref name="Conan">{{cite news|last1=Conan|first1=Neal|title=Advertisers Join Fight Against 'Green Fog'|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92634640|access-date=14 July 2017|work=NPR|date=July 17, 2008}}</ref> which “confronts global warming with humor.”<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-05-10|title="Sizzle" Confronts Global Warming With Humor (VIDEO)|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sizzle-confronts-global-w_n_492190|access-date=2020-06-05|website=HuffPost|language=en}}</ref>
Olson partnered in 2019 with surf photographer Brian Bielmann and filmmaker Brent Storm to help produce the documentary feature ''White Rhino''.<ref>{{Citation|title=White Rhino (2019) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt8383894/fullcredits|access-date=2019-08-12}}</ref> The film documents the three massive swells that hit Fiji and Tahiti in 2011–12.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/freesurf/docs/v16n3_web/1|title=Freesurf - Hawaii's Surf Magazine V16N3 - Page 28|website=issuu|date=8 March 2019 |access-date=2019-08-12}}</ref>
Olson has been criticized for potentially "dumbing down" serious science issues. His response is that his critics fail to grasp the difference between "dumbing down" and concision.<ref name="Callard">{{cite journal|last1=Callard|first1=Abby|title=Are Scientists or Moviemakers the Bigger Dodos?|journal=Smithsonian Magazine|date=October 29, 2009|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/are-scientists-or-moviemakers-the-bigger-dodos-146880116/|access-date=14 July 2017}}</ref>
==Books== Olson has authored the following books and articles:
*{{cite book|last=Olson|first=Randy|title=Don't Be Such a Scientist|year=2009|publisher=Island Press|location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1597265638|title-link=Don't Be Such a Scientist}} *{{cite journal|last=Olson|first=Randy|title=Science Communication: Narratively Speaking|journal=Science|date=6 December 2013|volume=342|issue=6163|page=1168 |doi=10.1126/science.342.6163.1168-a|pmid=24311660|doi-access=free}} *{{cite book|last1=Olson|first1=Randy|last2=Barton|first2=Dorie|last3=Palermo |first3=Brian |author-link3=Brian Palermo|title=Connection : Hollywood storytelling meets critical thinking|date=2013 |publisher=Prairie Starfish Productions |location=Los Angeles|isbn=9780615872384}} *{{cite book|last1=Olson|first1=Randy|title=Houston, We Have A Narrative: Why Science Needs Story|date=2015|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226270708|url=http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo21174162.html}} *{{Cite book|title=Narrative Is Everything|last=Olson|first=Randy|publisher=Kindle Direct Publishing|year=2019|isbn=978-1072232575|location=Los Angeles}} *{{Cite book|last1=Olson|first1=Randy|title=THE NARRATIVE GYM: Introducing the ABT Framework For Messaging and Communication|date=2020|publisher=Independently Published |isbn=979-8550151402}} *{{Cite book|last1=Olson|first1=Randy|last2=Howell|first2=Park|title=The Narrative Gym for Business: Introducing the ABT Framework for Business Communication and Messaging|date=2021|isbn=979-8539288044}} *{{Cite book|last1=Olson|first1=Randy|last2=Passon|first2=Doug|title=The Narrative Gym for Law: Introducing the ABT Framework for Persuasive Advocacy|date=2022|isbn=979-8784837936}} *{{Cite book|last1=Olson|first1=Randy|last2=Gold|first2=Dave|title=The Narrative Gym for Politics: Introducing the ABT Framework for Political Communication and Messaging|date=2022|isbn=979-8789063293}}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== * [http://randyolsonproductions.com/about/ Profile] * {{IMDb name|0647979}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Randy}} Category:Visual anthropologists Category:Harvard University alumni Category:American anthropologists Category:Living people Category:USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Scientists from Heidelberg Category:Mass media people from Heidelberg