Richard P. Olson is retired from Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas, where he was a distinguished professor of pastoral theology.
- Where did you grow up?
Timber Lake – a small town, population about 500, in western South Dakota.
- What is your favorite verse, book or story in the Bible? Why?
Sorry, I can’t do one.
Psalm 139 has sustained my family in living and grieving; Amos 5:21-24 and Micah 6:6-8 for the ringing call to justice; and Ephesians 3:8 to remind me what a gracious undserved gift it is to do what I do.
- What is your favorite movie? Why?
“Lilies of the Feld.”
This is a beautiful simple story of faith, dignity and conflict, playfully and reverently told.
- Who are three people you admire?
Jeannie K. Sherman, my home pastor for 35 years and a pioneering female pastor; Walter Muelder, then dean of Boston University School of Theology, my doctoral faculty adviser and social ethics mentor to many; and those who founded and made available clinical pastoral education to me.
- What is one little-known fact about yourself?
My father was born in a sod shanty on a homestead during a snowstorm before South Dakota became a state; my mother (maiden name Doty) may have an ancestor on the Mayflower.
