Ken Olsen

At 84 years old, Ken Olsen physical status not available right now. We will update Ken Olsen's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Kenneth Harry "Ken" Olsen (February 20, 1926 – February 6, 2011) was an American engineer who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1957 with colleague Harlan Anderson and his brother Stan Olsen.

Source

Career

The Office of Naval Research of the United States Department of the Navy recruited Olsen to assist in the development of a computerized flight simulator during his studies at MIT. He also supervised the building of the first transistorized research computer while at MIT. Olsen was an engineer who had been working at MIT Lincoln Laboratory on the TX-2 project.

Olsen's most significant contribution to Project Whirlwind was his work on the Memory Test Computer (MTC), which was described as "a special purpose computer built to test core memory for the Whirlwind." The TX-0, which was "designed to be a precursor to a larger 36-bit machine, was much cheaper than the 18-bit TX-0," Whirlwind and the MTC used 16 bits.

Olsen and Harlan Anderson, an MIT colleague, decided to form their own business in 1957. After receiving $70,000 for a 70% stake, they approached American Research and Development Corporation, an early venture capital company founded by Georges Doriot, and formed Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Olsen received patents for a saturable switch, a diode transformer gate circuit, an updated version of magnetic-core memory, and the line printer buffer in the 1960s. (Note that MIT professor Jay W. Forrester is credited with inventing the first practical magnetic-core memory.)

Olsen was known throughout his career for his leadership style and his encouragement of engineering innovation. Olsen's valuation of innovation and technological excellence developed and commercialized processes such as engineering matrix management, which are widely employed in several industries today. Olsen cherished humility so much that he owned a small office in an old mill building and kept a basic office. He was also a skilled pilot and flew his own plane.

Olsen is quoted as saying, "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his house" during the home automation period. Even as Olsen admitted to making the remark, he claims his words were taken out of context and that he was referring to computers that were supposed to control houses rather than PCs. "The out-of-context misinterpretation of Olsen's remarks is much more amusing and entertaining than what he actually meant," Snopes.com notes, "so the version that has been around for decades" has been "promo.

Olsen was named "America's most influential entrepreneur" by Fortune Magazine in 1986, and the IEEE Engineering Leadership Award was given to him in the same year. In 1988, Olsen was the subject of a book called The Ultimate Entrepreneur: Ken Olsen and the History of Ken Olsen and the Electronic Equipment Corporation, written by Glenn Rifkin and George Harrar.

Olsen received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' 1993 Founders Medal.

In 1996, he was named a Fellow of the Computer History Museum. In 1980, he was given the Vermilye Medal. On October 8, 1975, he was inducted as an Honorary Member of UPE (the International Honor Society for the Computing and Information Sciences).

In 2011, he was ranked #6 on the MIT150 list of the top 150 innovators and ideas from MIT for his work on the minicomputer.

Later career history

Olsen first appeared in public appearances in 1987, he described the UNIX as "snake oil." Some believed he was generalizing UNIX, while others believed he was referring to the benefits of the product's marketing exaggeration. Although Olsen believed that VMS was the correct option for DEC customers and often discussed the system's strengths, he did approve and promote an internal initiative to produce a native BSD-based UNIX product on the VAX series of computers, Ultrix. However, this line at DEC never received much-needed help.

Olsen was forced to resign from DEC after being elected in 1992. He later became the chairman of Advanced Modular Solutions. Olsen was also a major contributor to The Family, a worldwide Christian and political group.

In Wenham, Massachusetts, Olsen served as a trustee for Gordon College. The Ken Olsen Science Center was established after he was named in 2006 and dedicated on September 27, 2008. Its lobby includes a Digital Loggia of Technology, describing the advancement and history of digital technology, as well as an interactive kiosk to which former employees can submit their stories.

Source

Awards

• 1993: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1993 awarded Olsen the IEEE Founders Medal.
• 1996: The Computer History Museum in 1996 named Olsen a Museum Fellow "for his introduction of the minicomputer and co-founding of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)."
• 1999: Olsen was elected to the American Philosophical Society