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James Olson was born on October 8, 1930 in Evanston, Illinois, the son of LeRoy Olson, an engineer. He made his stage debut at age 12 as "Hans Brinker" in the Evanston Children's Theatre production of 'Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates'. He received a BS degree in Speech from Northwestern University before serving in the U.S. Army as a military policeman (M.P.) in 1952 for a two-year stint.

A Chicago-based stage actor before moving to New York, the 6'3" Olson studied with Lee Strasberg and made his Broadway debut in 'The Young and Beautiful'. Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s he continued to find poignant Broadway roles in 'J.B.' (1958), 'Romulus' (1962), 'The Chinese Prime Minister' (1964), 'The Three Sisters' (1964) and 'Of Love Remembered' (1967). Olson was featured in the 1966 Mary Tyler Moore-Richard Chamberlain musical misfire 'Holly Golightly' (based on the film Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)); the ill-fated musical closed before it reached Broadway.

Olson debuted on television as the title character in The Life of Mickey Mantle (1956). His film career began with the forgettable action drama The Sharkfighters (1956) but he later appeared in better roles in the film noir drama The Strange One (1957) and the Chekhov classic The Three Sisters (1966) (as Baron Tuzenbach, his Broadway stage role). He displayed an understated power in his performance as Joanne Woodward's suitor in the Oscar-nominated picture Rachel, Rachel (1968), which garnered him the best reviews of his film career. This was followed by a prime scientist role in the classic sci-fi thriller The Andromeda Strain (1971). He continued onstage in roles in 'The Glass Menagerie', 'The Crucible', 'A Safe Place', 'Twelve Dreams', and 'Winterplay'.

He had numerous TV-movie roles in Paper Man (1971), Incident on a Dark Street (1973), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1974), The Sex Symbol (1974), The Missiles of October (1974), The Family Nobody Wanted (1975), Someone I Touched (1975), Strange New World (1975), Law and Order (1976), and The Spell (1977), and guest and/or recurring roles on such TV series as Bonanza (1959), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), Medical Center (1969), Police Story (1973), Police Woman (1974), The F.B.I. (1965), Gunsmoke (1955), Mannix (1967), Harry O (1973), Hawaii Five-O (1968), Maude (1972), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Bionic Woman (1976), and Battlestar Galactica (1978).

Major stardom proved elusive, however. Olson wrapped up his career with the films Ragtime (1981), Amityville II: The Possession (1982), Commando (1985) and Rachel River (1987) and 1990 TV appearances on The Family Man (1990) and Murder, She Wrote (1984), before retiring.

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