Rick Olson, Pastor

Dr. Richard Olson was born in Wichita, Kansas, but moved to the Seattle, Washington area when he was 10. He received a bachelor’s degree in Zoology at the University of Washington, a master’s degree in Biology from Eastern Washington University, and a Ph.D. in Biosystems Engineering at Texas A&M University. Rick spent 14 years as a research biologist in Virginia, Colorado and Mississippi before heeding God’s call to the ordained ministry and enrolling in Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. There, he received a Masters of Divinity.

Before coming to Covenant, he was Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Gold Beach, Oregon.

Rick is married to Pam Olson, who works as a Case Advocate for Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program. She is an accomplished quilter and poet, and loves to sing in church choirs. They have two children; Emily, who lives in Virginia with her husband Thom, and Mike who is completing his paramedic studies in Tuscaloosa.