Greg Olsen
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Greg Olsen (born September 25, 1958 in Idaho Falls, Idaho) is a prolific artist of the late 20th and early 21st century, famous for his paintings, “O Jerusalem”, “The Spirit of Christmas” and “Worlds Without End”. Many major corporations have his work, including The Pentagon. While his portfolio is quite diverse (Western, Childhood, Christmas, Americana, and Landscapes), he is most famous for his paintings of Jesus Christ.
Olsen was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho to Gordon Olsen and Janel Bodily Olsen. He grew up in the nearby farming community of Iona, Idaho. He is the oldest of five children. Greg began showing an interest in art when he was in the 4th grade. He asked for a John Nagey art set for Christmas, which came with detailed instructions about values, shading, perspective, etc. It also came with a plentiful supply of paper and different shades of black, grey and white chalk, along with colored pencils. By the time he reached Jr. high School Greg began to take art quite seriously, and when he entered Bonneville High School he was fortunate to have an extremely good art teacher (Bob Whitney), who perhaps, contributed more to Greg’s art education and desire to make it his life’s work than any other person.
He studied at Utah State University, where he met and married Sydnie Cazier. They have six children.
“From an early age I have always been fascinated by paintings that create mood, emotion and atmosphere; especially those paintings that lift me and transport me to some far off place. These are the elements I strive to create in my paintings. (tokyosmyrna) My paintings in many ways record what is most important to me: my feelings and experiences with family and friends along with the spiritual aspects of my life. My hope is that in these images you will find something familiar, something which will resonate and remind you of what is important in your own life.” – Greg Olsen –
