Ken Olsen

Kenneth Olsen
Kenneth Olsen
Born	20 February 1926 (age 100); Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	6 February 2011 (aged 84); Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Engineer, entrepreneur
Known for	Co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)

Kenneth Harry Olsen (February 20, 1926 – February 6, 2011) was an American engineer notable for co-founding Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1957 alongside his colleague Harlan Anderson and his brother Stan Olsen.

Background

Olsen was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and grew up in nearby Stratford, Connecticut, with family roots tracing back to Norway and Sweden. Early in his career, he gained practical experience working summers in a machine shop and became known locally as an inventor by repairing radios.

Following his service in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, Olsen pursued higher education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a BS degree in 1950 and an MS degree in 1952, both in electrical engineering.

Before DEC

During his time at MIT, Olsen was recruited by the United States Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research to assist in developing a computerized flight simulator. He also led efforts to build the TX-0, the first transistorized research computer, and contributed to the TX-2 project at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

A significant part of Olsen’s work on Project Whirlwind involved designing the Memory Test Computer (MTC), a device dedicated to testing core memory used by Whirlwind. While the TX-0 employed an 18-bit architecture, both Whirlwind and the MTC utilized a 16-bit system.

Digital Equipment Corporation

In 1957, Olsen and Harlan Anderson launched Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) after securing $70,000 in funding from American Research and Development Corporation, which acquired a 70% ownership stake. Throughout the 1960s, Olsen was granted patents for various technological advancements including a saturable switch, diode transformer gate circuit, enhancements to magnetic-core memory, and improvements to line printer buffers. (The first practical magnetic-core memory is attributed to MIT professor Jay W. Forrester.)

Olsen became well known for his leadership approach that emphasized engineering innovation and technical mastery. He introduced engineering matrix management practices that were widely adopted across multiple industries. Known for his modesty, he preferred driving an economical car and maintained his office within a modest old mill building. Additionally, he was an experienced pilot.

In 1977, Olsen made a notable statement claiming there was "no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home," specifically addressing home automation computers rather than personal computers—a comment that has often been misunderstood or taken out of context.

Fortune magazine named him "America's most successful entrepreneur" in 1986, the same year he received the IEEE Engineering Leadership Recognition Award. His life story was chronicled in the biography The Ultimate Entrepreneur: The Story of Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation, published in 1988.

Additional honors included the IEEE Founders Medal awarded in 1993, induction as a Fellow of the Computer History Museum in 1996, receipt of the Vermilye Medal in 1980, and honorary membership in UPE since 1975.

In 2011, MIT ranked Olsen sixth among its top innovators due to his pioneering work on minicomputers.

Later career history

Starting in 1987, Olsen publicly criticized UNIX as "snake oil," a remark often interpreted as targeting UNIX's marketing rather than its underlying technology. He advocated for VMS as a superior operating system tailored for DEC customers and frequently emphasized its advantages. Despite this preference, he authorized an internal initiative to create Ultrix—a native BSD-based UNIX variant for the VAX platform—though it did not receive widespread support within DEC.

Olsen stepped down as DEC president in 1992 and later took on the role of chairman at Advanced Modular Solutions. He was also deeply involved with The Family, a religious-political organization.

As a trustee of Gordon College located in Wenham, Massachusetts, the Ken Olsen Science Center was named to honor him in 2006 and officially dedicated two years later. The center’s entrance houses the Digital Loggia of Technology, which celebrates Digital’s technological heritage and includes an interactive kiosk featuring contributions from former employees.

Olsen passed away under hospice care in Indianapolis, Indiana, on February 6, 2011, at age 84. Gordon College announced his death without revealing details about the cause. His family also chose not to disclose further information regarding his passing.

Awards

1993: Received the IEEE Founders Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
1996: Honored as a Museum Fellow by the Computer History Museum in recognition of pioneering the minicomputer and co-founding Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).
1999: Became a member of the American Philosophical Society.

External links

1988 Oral History Interview Transcript with Ken Olsen
Ken Olsen, New England Economic Adventure
Ken Olsen, DEC Co-founder, Passes Away at 84, Mass High Tech
Kenneth Olsen, DEC Co-founder, Remembered by Computer Industry, Network World
DEC: The mistakes that led to its downfall Birbeck College, University of London

Archives and records

Kenneth H. Olsen Collection housed at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.