Former Soldotna state representative and local politician Kurt Olson died Nov. 9 of pancreatic cancer. He was 75.
Olson served six terms in the state legislature for the central peninsula, from 2004 to his retirement in 2017. In the state house, he chaired the Labor & Commerce Committee, Community and Regional Affairs Committee, and the Special Committee on Oil & Gas, among others.
Olson was a member of the U.S. Air Force, and moved to Alaska in 1977. He lived in Anchorage for five years, then moved to the central peninsula. He sat on the Soldotna City Council for two years, and spent eight years on the Central Emergency Services Service Area Board of Directors.
Governor Mike Dunleavy ordered that flags be flown at half mast in honor of Olson, from sunrise on Nov. 14 to sunset on Nov. 15.
