Harry F. Olson was born in Iowa in 1901. He earned a B.E., an M.S., a Ph.D. in physics, and a professional degree in electrical engineering from the University of Iowa. Upon completion of his education in 1928, Olson began working in the research divisions of RCA, first at RCA Photophone and RCA Victor, before becoming head of acoustical research at the new RCA Laboratories facility in Princeton, New Jersey in 1942.

Olson had a prolific career. He published 10 books and more than 130 articles, and was granted over 100 patents for his work. Olson’s innovative work produced the cardioid microphone, an acoustic stethoscope, an acoustically perfect theatre, duo-cone loudspeakers, a phonetic typewriter, the first magnetic color broadcast videotape recorder, and – together with Herb Belar – the electronic music synthesizer.

Olson was active in several professional organizations, including the American Acoustical Society and the Audio Engineering Society, serving a term as president for each, and as editor of the latter’s journal for more than 30 years. He received numerous awards and honors for his work, including being elected to the National Academy of Science and the Lammé Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Olson worked at the David Sarnoff Research Center until retiring as Staff Vice President, Acoustical and Electromechanical Research Laboratory in 1967. Following his retirement, Olson continued to serve as a consultant to RCA Laboratories until the mid-1970s. He died in 1982 in Princeton.