Somebody Who Cared: Professor Scott Olsen’s Phased Retirement 

By Abigail Koenig 

Scott Olsen has been a fixture of Concordia college since 1987, teaching almost exclusively non-fiction writing courses and embarking on a total of 19 school sponsored overseas trips with Cobber students and staff.  He is now doing a phased retirement. 

Phased retirement is a one or two year program where a professor teaches a reduced load of class. After the 2025-2026 school year Olsen will then become a professor emeritus, meaning that regardless of official retirement he can still use campus resources and very possibly teach classes at Concordia here and there. 

In Olsen’s professional work he has been heavily involved in both writing and photography saying that cameras were in fact a way to “take notes.” He continues saying that particularly with travel, “it’s easier to take a picture of a barn and then describe it later than to stand there and try to take good notes.” 

 In his lifetime of travel and academia, he has written 12 books full of stories and pictures he has taken. He has also edited anthologies as well as the international literary magazine Ascent for over 20 years. 

“Writing is always there,” Olsen explains, “I’m writing as much as or more than I ever have, but a lot of it is criticism or that kind of stuff, book reviews of photo books, and my own photography’s taken off, so gallery exhibitions, books, that kind of stuff.” 

In his version of the teaching universe every individual student brings something new and exciting to the classroom as each essay he reads is radically different than the last. Even after 37 years of being a professor this is what has kept him passionate in his career. 

“My world is really made up of endless independent studies. You get to know people’s heart and soul and minds, and their frustrations and their loves. It is really fulfilling,” Olsen says. 

He places a huge emphasis on creating a comfortable environment for students to be themselves and to tell their stories. 

For Olsen, memorable interactions happen “every single day” he says, and he notes how it’s not necessarily grand instants where “the curtain parted, and the sun came out” but rather regular occurrences, such as chatting with a student during passing periods. 

When asked about the most rewarding moments of his career, he hesitates to call out any specific times or students as even the quietest, simplest interactions he’s had are still in his words “oceans deep” in how they’ve influenced his pupils or himself. 

Though Olsen will not be completely leaving Concordia, he’s stated how he wants his legacy to be someone who helps others share their stories 

“All I hope is that they remember me as somebody who cared about their work,” Olsen says