Neils Peter Olsen was born in London, Ontario in 1945. His early childhood was spent in the farming communities of Belmont, Dorchester and Mount Pleasant. At the age of sixteen his family moved to Toronto and he took his first art class at Vaughan Road High school. After a year he moved on to attend George Harvey Vocational Institute specialized in Architectural Drafting, graduating in 1966.
After working for Ontario Hydro as a Design Draftsman for four years he married and went back to school graduating in 1974 from McMaster University in Honours Fine Art. After a year at the University of Toronto Teachers College he secured a position as a teacher of art and theatre arts at the Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute, Guelph.
In 1975 and 78 he became a father to a bouncing son and daughter respectfully. In 1984 he became Department Head of theVisual Art Department, at the Collegiate. In 1985 to 1987 he attended Buffalo State University at night to earn a Masters in Art Education. In 1986 he became the president of the O. S. E. A.. In 1988 he accepted the position of Art Teacher with The Department of National Defense and was stationed in Lhar Germany for the next three years. In 1991 till 1993 he returned home to Canada and to his position at the Guelph Collegiate. Then in 1995 he moved to the Wellington School Board Offices (now the Upper Grand District School Board) as an Educational Consultant and held that position for three years. He returned to the G. C. V. I. as Department Head to retire in 2007 after thirty two years of teaching. To-day he can be found happily retired and painting, living in Windsor Ontario with his wife Wanda.
