Phil Olson 

Playwright, Producer

Bio

Phil grew up in Edina, Minnesota, home of the first indoor mall.

His father’s grandparents came over from Norway and homesteaded

a farm north of Grand Forks, North Dakota. His mother’s grandparents also

came over from Norway and ended up in Virginia, Minnesota; the iron range.

Phil played varsity football, basketball and track at Edina East High School,

winning the Minnesota State High School Track Meet in the discus.

Phil was recently inducted into the Edina Athletic Hall of Fame.

After high school, he went on to Dartmouth College where he majored in mathematics,

was All Ivy, All New England and All East in Track, and an All-Ivy tight end

on the Ivy League Championship Football team. Some of his Dartmouth teammates

included Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, Buddy Teevens, Head Football Coach at Dartmouth,

Dave Shula, ex-Head Coach for the Cincinnati Bengals, Nick Lowery,

All-Pro place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Jeff Kemp, quarterback for the Rams

and the San Francisco 49ers.

After graduating from Dartmouth, Phil tried out for the Chicago Bears.

After his "summer with the Bears," he went on to receive an MBA from

The University of Chicago and pursued a business career while writing stage and screenplays.

Phil currently lives in Los Angeles where he writes and produces plays.

He has written 19 published plays that have had over 600 productions in 45 states and eight countries around the

world. Thirteen of his plays are published by Samuel French/Concord Theatricals including,

Love...or Best Offer, Birthday Club, A Twisted Christmas Carol, Mom's Gift, Don't Hug Me,

A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol, A Don't Hug Me County Fair, Don't Hug Me I'm Pregnant, Don't Hug Me, We're Married, Don't Hug Me, We're Family, Polyester The Musical,

A Nice Family Gathering, and A Nice Family Christmas.

Phil's play, A Twisted Christmas Carol, had world premieres in 8 cities, concurrently, in 2019,

something that has never been done before in live theatre. Phil's plays have over 50 playwriting and theatre awards. Seven of his plays are set in small towns in Minnesota. As a script doctor, he’s re-written three movies that have been produced, as well as thirteen original screenplays. He's also sold two screenplays. Phil went thru all four levels of The Groundlings, writing and performing with many talented people including Maya Rudolph.