Paul was born in Wisconsin, raised in Minnesota, went to college in Iowa and currently teaches English and coaches track and field in Illinois at Augustana College, Rock Island. This year, Paul was named NCAA Division III “Coach of the Year.” He attended graduate school in Oregon and subsequently had teaching “gigs” in Michigan, Colorado, and Washington.
“My soul, too, is restless, but grounded in my wife and partner, Jeanne and our two adult sons, David and Eric. My favorite recreation is biking the roads by the Mississippi and boating through the pools and locks from Minneapolis to Missouri.”
We are pleased that Paul also serves on the Board of Directors here at Holden Village.
Audio Archive
Olsen, Paul
Recordings
Great Stories You Need to Know: Radical Faith and the Church's Vision of Story
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2000Great Stories You Need to Know: Radical Vision — The Bible and African American
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2000Great Stories You Need to Know: Our Own Stories, What They Say About Us
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2000Great Stories You Need to Know: Whose History — Who Decided What for Me?
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2000Great Characters – Great Literature: Sophie – American Literature's Best Look at a Holocaust Survivor
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2002Absolutes Are Idolatry: Is Our God/god an Absolute?: Considering Alice Walker's "The Color Purple"
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2005Absolutes Are Idolatry: "The One Thing You Need to Know": Considering Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon"
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2005Literature's New Way of Thinking I: Radical Literature: Radical Thinking
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2006Literature's New Way of Thinking II: Poetry for Everyone – Old Favorites, New Vision
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2006Literature For Life II: Bible as Literature – Looking at the Genesis Creation Story
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2006A Different King of Thinking, Seeing: A Look At Song of Soloman – Radical Love
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2010A Different Kind of Thinking, Seeing: Moral Behavior, America's Best Novel? Sophie's Choice
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2010Religion, Uncertainty, Faith, and Redemption in Great Literature – Part 1: Come Laugh with Me ("The Brothers K")
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2014Religion, Uncertainty, Faith, and Redemption in Great Literature – Part 2: Institutions: Control or Liberate
Presenter: Olsen, Paul / 2014Recent Additions
Vespers March 5, 1977 with Mary Schramm – Meditations on the Cross
Vespers March 4, 1977 with Bob Randoy – Small Enough and Big Enough
Vespers March 3, 1977 with Ron Vignec – Peace through the Blood of the Cross
Vespers March 1, 1977 with Werner Janssen Epistle to Philemon
Vespers February 28, 1977 with Karen Nygaard – In Need of Sharing
Audio Archive Partner
Holden wishes to express appreciation to PLU, Pacific Lutheran University, for their support of the Holden Audio Archive Project.
September 15, 2025| there are 2320 presenters in the archive | there are 19936 recordings in the archive | welcome
