Shawn Olson is one of the most prolific quarterbacks to ever come out of BC. Following a standout high school career at Surrey’s Holy Cross Regional High School, he made the jump to his hometown Surrey Rams of the from 1992 to 1995 where he guided the team to three BC Junior championships and one Western Canadian Championship. During those seasons with the Rams, he passed for 5,758 yards and had 62 touchdowns over three seasons playing quarterback.
After his stint with the Rams, Olson would take his quarterbacking talents to the Point Grey campus of the University of British Columbia to ply his trade with the UBC Thunderbirds. In five seasons from 1996 to 2000 with the T-Birds, he guided UBC to a 30-17-1 record and was a three-time Canada West All-Star. He amassed 9,953 yards passing, 1276 rushing yards and 65 touchdowns (55 passing and 10 rushing) making him one of the most prolific offensive players of all time at UBC. His crowning achievement would be quarterbacking the Thunderbirds to a Vanier Cup victory in 1997 over the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
After his playing career, Olson would turn to the coaching ranks spending time in both North America and Europe. He was an assistant coach for the Calgary Dinos in 2001 before moving to Austria to build the Vienna Vikings into the top team in Europe. With the Vikings, Olson led them to four straight Euro Bowls championship, the first two in franchise history as a player in 2004 and 2005, and then two more Euro Bowls championships as the Vikings’ head coach in 2006 and 2007.
Olson would return to North America in 2007 to become the offensive coordinator at Simon Fraser University, helping lead the team to a Hardy Cup Championship in 2008.
He would return to the Point Grey Campus in 2010 when he was named head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds, spending five seasons with his alma mater. He guided the team to their first playoff win in 12 years in 2011 (officially, the team finished 0-8 in the regular season due to an ineligible player) and was named the Canada West Coach of the Year.
